It's still dark. I'm awake.
I'm in the throes of my first-ever toothache. *grimace*
I have not, until late last night, understood why grown men cry and moan when their teeth hurt. I have never felt such an odd, torturous pain. I can't even deal. As you know, I dislike medicine. I only take what's absolutely necessary, and even then I use the smallest amount possible to effect relief.
...this tooth pain had me crying for morphine, seriously. I legit wanted the strongest thing, that would last the longest time, so I could sleep through the most pain. I also needed said remedy to not interact with my current therapies. (Anti-nausea meds have side effects that become greatly exaggerated when taken with other meds, and anti-epilectic meds are the same story.)
Modern medicine failed me. There was nothing I could take that wouldn't possibly interact with the stuff I already have to take. Since I didn't want more side effects, I felt like I was at an impasse.
Note: This blog is not intended to give you a diagnosis, a prescription, or a guaranteed treatment plan. I am not a doctor. I repeat, I am not a doctor. I am simply a woman who could not stand one more medication, or surmount one more side effect, so I turned to natural remedies. As with anything you see online, please do your due diligence. Research. Make sure you aren't allergic or otherwise reactive. Discuss anything you want to try with your care team. Best wishes!
The tooth is not infected, so antibiotics aren't needed. The tooth isn't loose or broken, so there isn't a justifiable reason to hook up the pliers and snatch that sucker out. (Sounds painful...yet somehow I am sure it is less painful than what's actually happening in my poor little mouth.)
Because I hate medicine, and currently have to watch everything I ingest anyway (and shouldn't we all, all the time?), I decided to Google it.
I know, I know...Google is NOT the thing to do when you're not feeling well. All it takes is a few clicks to convince even the sharpest mind that they have contracted some kind of weird chicken fever and will die within the hour.
I came across some questionable stuff. Some comical stuff. Some downright wacky stuff.
I came across the magical clove.
No, that's not a reference to some illicit street meds.
The clove.
This little twig-looking flower bud has saved this mama's life, along with what's left of my stupid appetite.
I asked Hubby what he thought about it. (He is the resident medical genius...I am but a humble other genius. *chuckle*) He gave me several different scenarios to consider, i.e. methods to use these little crunchy power pellets to stop the mouth massacre.
Note: For the fact checkers, here is a little infographic about cloves.
There are several different ways to use a clove for a toothache.
The gentlest is to use clove oil. It is available in most pharmacies, and practically all health food stores. But clove oil wasn't available to me immediately. I needed immediate or sooner.
However, we do have a jar of whole cloves at our house, which brings me to the second method...
A less-gentle but still effective route: whole ground cloves.
I had Hubby grind up a few cloves and bring them to me. Ever the considerate one, he also grabbed a few whole ones.
I rinsed my mouth with Listerine, then some saline. The saline helps with salivation--you need a little drool power to help the cloves effect relief. We fashioned a poultice (think, little clove dust-filled pillow) from a little square of gauze and packed it on the affected tooth.
Within a few minutes, the gum around the ignorant tooth began to feel warm. A soothing warm, not cayenne and chili masala warm. A bit later, a blessed numbness.
Naturally (see what I did there? Naturally?), I was elated. I hadn't been to sleep for maybe 16 hours, because it hurt to lay on my face. I sleep on my right side almost exclusively, and even an extra soft pillow hadn't stopped the pain from shooting through my jaw like an errant crap rocket every time I dared rest on my face. While I'm no stranger to sleeping sitting up, I really wanted to lie down and be one with the blankets. Pain, drains.
By first hour's end, my tooth was comfortably numb. As in, "let me eat some Chick-fil-A breakfast and brush, before the feeling comes back and I'm dying again" numb. I took my little magical clove pillow out and got a few winks. Of course, we made another one to keep at the ready.
For now I'm still comfortable. I haven't used my second poultice yet. I decided against buying the commercial clove oil for me, but I will definitely have Hubby get some for the kids. I'm fine with the real deal, the little crunchy spice pillow.
The only downside to this little remedy is, you may not be overly fond of the clove's flavor. I don't mind it, because I drink my weight in chai, which is a spice tea including cloves, ginger, and a host of other healthy things mixed with black tea. I take mine with coconut milk, no sugar.
I digress.
While everything must be exercised with caution and moderation, I fully recommend giving Big Pharma a break and exploring natural remedies. Long before there were pain pills and infusions, there were plants and roots.
Don't take this blog as medical advice. Take it as a tool to learn about something perhaps you didn't know, I hadn't ever tried. Please remember, I am not the resident medical genius. The resident medical genius charges you, while I provide my little insight and anecdotes for free. *chuckle*
Namaste!
-- Taye K.
No comments:
Post a Comment