Posted By: trt gums hurt - 12-18-2006 12:39 AM
I am recovering from palatectomy. I was getting better then I started having more frequent headaches, fatigue and pain in the gums. I still have stitches and wounds healing. It's as if the teeth hurt.

It seems that the exercises below and chewing solids have something to do with it. Maybe I should do more liquid foods.

Since I have trismus, I started doing exercises and forcing my mouth open.
Posted By: JoAnne1981 Re: gums hurt - 12-18-2006 01:51 PM
My husband has trismus and uses the Therabyte jaw exerciser with good results. Has anyone discussed that with you? It opens and closes your mouth to a specific target that can be adjusted. If you are forcing your mouth open rather than the more measured stretching provided by the Therabyte you could be irritating the incision area. Even with the device you can overstretch. Jack's dentist told him it was more important to do repetitive stretching more frequently during the day than one big stretching session that does more harm than good. Pain is a sign that there's an issue and you need to discuss it with your medical team.

There's a lot posts about the device that you can do a search on here, and there's a website for the company. Nothing wrong with doing more liquids/pureed foods to see if things settle down as that can take a long time to heal. You don't have to stop solid food just use your own judgement on did it make you feel worse. It's a lot of trial and error on the eating part. Jack also had involvement in his soft palate and it takes awhile, when was your surgery and are you having other treatments?

Good luck,
JoAnne
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