Dental Injection Site Nerve Pain or TMS?

Hello!

I came across this site a few years ago when I had back pain. This forum definitely helped me get over my TMS. Now I'm facing a new dilemma. I recently went to the dentist to get a deep teeth cleaning which requires a numbing injection. I am scared of going to the dentist, but I knew it had to be done. When I got there, I had to sign a waiver and it said that the dental injection could cause nerve damage. I asked the hygengist about it and she said that's a risk associated with any dental injection. I got anxiety immediately. I was so nervous, and her answer didn't make me feel. I go in and she injects me, and my jaw is tense and I feel significant pain on one particular injection. She does the cleaning and I ask her if it's normal to feel the injection site even though I'm numb. She said yes in a very unconvincing fashion. I was concerned, but not in full blown anxiety mode. She said I'll be sore for 2-3 days. Well, 5 days later i was still very sore, and i was concerned so I done nerve damage because I could still feel pain at the injection site. I went to the dentist after a week, and he didn't make me feel any better. He gave me Flexeril to relax my muscle and told me that it's possible it could be nerve damage, but it sounds like muscle soreness. Unfortunately, that gave me no piece of mind. Now it's been almost 2 weeks, and my muscle soreness is mostly gone, but I can still feel that pain/irritation burn at the lower jaw injection site. So of course I've been googling like crazy, and now I'm worried this will be permanent nerve damage. I seem to have some of the symptoms. I know how tms works. I recently broke up with fiancee and my elderly father is showing signs of memory loss, and i'm looking to expand my business. Then I go to the dentist and all of the sudden I have all these symptoms. If anyone has any thoughts they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. Thank you!

 

Hi imbrys,

I'm sorry you had such a difficult experience at the dentist! I looked this up for you and the statistic is something like 1 in 100,000 people who have nerve damage due to dental injections...aka most dentists will not ever even see this occur in their career. Rest assured it is REALLY rare! As Sarno says, true nerve damage results in total numbness and muscles just no longer working (like when you sleep on your arm, it falls asleep and gets numb and hard to move for a little while). Pain and burning at the site of the injection is more likely to be neural pathway/TMS pain due to the anxiety you had at the time. Of course you can visit a doctor or different dentist if you feel you need confirmation but it sounds like classic TMS to me. Make an evidence list to help convince yourself if you need!

 

Thank you for the reassurance! I am one of those people that think I am the 1 in 100,000. Apparently I love to freak myself out! I appreciate the response!