I was wondering if there is any certain ways or tricks to do them…i know everyone is different but was wondering…just wondering i miss doing the simple tasks such as brushing ur teeth and washing ur face without pain…
Hi,
I am sorry that I cannot give you any good advice .I had this problem before and what I did was to wash my face quickly. I simply splashed water on my face and used a soft towel to dry it gingerly. I did not actually brush my teeth. I rubbed them with toothpaste using my finger and rinse with water. Sometimes I used listerine to keep out my bad breath. However, I flossed my teeth after food. When the pain level went down a little, I would wash my face and brush my teeth with baby toothbrush .( like normal people :-))
After you have taken the right combo of meds, the pain will be manageable . Meantime , please take care.
Best regards,
Seow
Seow, thank you for the ideas…my TN acts up pretty bad during the fall/winter months…this will be my 3rd winter with it…the only meds im on are percocet for the pain and 900mgs of gabapenting 3 times a day but it still shows its ugly face whenever it sees fit, and today is the first day that ive had a break of random outbreaks in a few weeks…hope all is well
Janice
Showers are a nightmare. I now get in and out as fast as I can. I find the warmer the water the less the pain. Cold water is the worst. So I brush with hot water. Not sure if that helps.
Thank you crunchy…warm water does help when my TN acts up really bad i have my heating near by…i hope that you are at ease
Janice
Greetings Janice,
When I would get my bad lightning attacks and needed to brush my teeth, I would brush lightly until an attack and then brush like crazy during the pain since it would not make the pain any worse. I also use a mouthwash that my dentist prescribed called peridex that he said to use once in awhile. If you use it all the time it can stain your teeth.
Everyone has pretty much covered what I used to do, although I also used to wet a washcloth with warm-ish water and slab a little toothpaste on there and gently dab. Warm water would work sometimes.
For my face I bought a spray bottle that lightly misted rather than sprayed, and then slowly or quickly depending on the pain level I dabbed my face dry.
Hope that helps…
Thank you scott, and mimi for your input as well just trying to find a happy medium…hope all is well to the both of you
Janice
Hey janice, my tn is atypical so i dont really suffer from triggers as you do so you can try out my ideas if you wish but i cant promise anything hun.
I recently had an operation that involved having my mouth full of stitches and i dreaded oral hygiene.I tried to clean my gums with a cotton bud(cue tip?) and salty water and did the same thing to my teeth using a sensitive strength toothpaste on the end of a cotton bud dipped in warm water.
I know alot of bacteria that can cause bad breath and such are on the tongue too so if you cant bear to brush try to get a good tongue scraper as it will help your mouth feel a little better.
I also used warmish water (this is going to sound stupid) with the same gentle toothpaste mixed in, sip with a straw and gentle swill round my mouth then spit. I found it uncomfortable opening the mouth much so the straw helped for when things were really bad. I had been told that a warm wash cloth can clean them but for me personally it made me feel uncomfortable.
As for the face suggestion, my face was the side of a balloon at that time and super painful, the only thing i could handle is dabbing a cotton pad in warm water, squeezing the excess then wiping VERY softly. I did not like to do it standing up as i would get trembly and sometimes press too hard. I sat in the warmest room of the house with a miror in front of me so my hands were steady, those small things made me less nervous about it too.
Hope some of that was helpful x
Hi
I have TN and AT. I use an electric tooth brush. This keeps the pain to a minimum as you can cotrol the pressure on the tooth and gums. As it is electric there is much less back and forth movement required. I have used this for years now and it really makes brushing my teeth bearable.
Hope this helps.
Regards
AJ
Greetings AJ<
Thats great that you can use a electric toothbrush, I have two different kinds and could not use either one as they set off attacks.
AJ said:
Hi
I have TN and AT. I use an electric tooth brush. This keeps the pain to a minimum as you can cotrol the pressure on the tooth and gums. As it is electric there is much less back and forth movement required. I have used this for years now and it really makes brushing my teeth bearable.
Hope this helps.
Regards
AJ
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! The thought of using an electric toothbrush with my TN is almost too much to bear. So glad you can use one AJ :-) I cannot even look at one sometimes. Everything involved with touching my face can be a trigger when my pain is out of control. I just mentally grit my teeth and do everything anyway. Yes it triggers an attack but I clean and brush through it as it hurts anyway. I hate TN and I hate that the basics of life are so difficult for my TN friends.
No denying it is still painfull however it reduces the pain level. Using a normal tooth brush is just too painfull. I normally hold my cheek away with my finger which helps to reduce the pain as the brush does not touch the trigger points.
Great ideas AJ, we need them LOL!!
Mangamel said:
Hey janice, my tn is atypical so i dont really suffer from triggers as you do so you can try out my ideas if you wish but i cant promise anything hun.
I recently had an operation that involved having my mouth full of stitches and i dreaded oral hygiene.I tried to clean my gums with a cotton bud(cue tip?) and salty water and did the same thing to my teeth using a sensitive strength toothpaste on the end of a cotton bud dipped in warm water.
I know alot of bacteria that can cause bad breath and such are on the tongue too so if you cant bear to brush try to get a good tongue scraper as it will help your mouth feel a little better.
I also used warmish water (this is going to sound stupid) with the same gentle toothpaste mixed in, sip with a straw and gentle swill round my mouth then spit. I found it uncomfortable opening the mouth much so the straw helped for when things were really bad. I had been told that a warm wash cloth can clean them but for me personally it made me feel uncomfortable.
As for the face suggestion, my face was the side of a balloon at that time and super painful, the only thing i could handle is dabbing a cotton pad in warm water, squeezing the excess then wiping VERY softly. I did not like to do it standing up as i would get trembly and sometimes press too hard. I sat in the warmest room of the house with a miror in front of me so my hands were steady, those small things made me less nervous about it too.
Hope some of that was helpful x
Mangamel , I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed a year ago. I had to have it done sadated and they had to keep me on some heavy pain killers for a few weeks after. It was awful. You did better then I all I could do was rinse. Brushing was completely out of the question no matter what I used. I feel your pain. :(