Well that was Pain Indeed

I had a wisdom tooth out today, a procedure that I was told would be relatively straightforward as these things go, and could be done under a local anaesthetic.

They were right in that sense. The actual removal of the tooth took barely ten minutes, I didn't even notice it had gone until I was told. Unfortunately it was the 35 minutes of trying to get enough anaesthetic into me to numb the site that was the issue.

You see, the nerve within the tooth had become hypser-sensitised, which was only discovered when after the initial 3 or 4 injections they began work to spilt the tooth to facilitate its removal, and I yelled out loud in pain and nearly ripped the arms off the dental chair.

In order to directly sedate the nerve, they had to dig around to expose it, and then inject it directly with novocaine, or whatever it is they use these days. This meant, they had to keep injecting me to numb a bit more of the pulp around the nerve to enable the exposure process to proceed, each injection producing a split second of incredible, sharp pain.

Finally, there was the final series of injections into the nerve, which again were absolutely blinding.

5 minutes later they were able to begin, with my jaw aching from holding it open, and my body tenser than a springing cat.

Ye gods, that was no fun. All has settled now, although it feels like there's a tangle of fishing line in there from the stitches and I feel like I've been punched in the jaw.

For pictures, well, there was a little sensory garden in Carlton along the road, with some charming little sculptures in it. That's the only nice thing that has happened in the last 24 hours.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 13.12.19

I Didn't have a Leg to Stand on

So yes, as you have been able to tell by my writings from the last few days, I've done myself yet another physical mischief.

As opposed to the regular calf or back twinges, I've managed to do something far more exotic to myself.

You probably can't see from the picture, but the outside of my leg from just below my knee down my shin, is rather swollen and red, and very sensitive to the touch. When it wasn't being fiddled with, the ache was continuous, and occasionally very sharply painful.

A bit of research indicated that it was an issue where the top of my admittedly rather nobbly fibula ends just below the kneecap, and was probably something to do with a strip of ligament called "The IO Band" irritating the peroneal nerve that runs along the outside of the leg. I've either done this running, walking, or cycling, which really narrows it down.

There's various youtube videos showing how you can ease the injury by performing a sort of double handed pull centred around the back of the fibula; I did manage to do this once without falling over.

The pain has eased today somewhat, but it is still tender, and I'm left wondering how gentle I'm going to have to be with Mr Knee, and for how long.

My beloved Oliver Sacks had to go through this when he busted his leg skiing. He managed to get a whole book on neurological function out of it, called "A Leg to Stand On". I very much doubt anyone is going to want to read a book about my leg, let alone one that has pictures of the wretched thing in it.

I have a lot of adventuring to do. I hope my leg won't stop me.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 23.02.16