i'm never taking my tongue for granted again

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#1 Post by **CheekyMonkey** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:22 pm

my freaking tongue is killing me. i had the expander put on this week and in addition to not being able to chew, speak correctly or generally feel "good", my tongue during speech and resting naturally rests against the bar and it has caused either blisters or canker sores. All I know is there are now things my tongue and they're quite unpleasant. it's further impeding my speech as well as my comfort.

i can't get the wax around it to ease it that way.

help!!

#2 Post by **CheekyMonkey** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:03 am

Thanks Karen, I'll give that a try.

#3 Post by **gramsinbraces** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:00 pm

I also had the same problem with the upper expander, I was horrible, my ortho packed it with wax and I had relief right away. He sent me home with lots of wax and after about a week, I only put wax across it at night and now not at all. The groves are still on my tongue but must be callsed because it doesn't hurt anymore. I can live with this now for how ever long, but at first I didn't think it was going to work out for me. Hang in there I promise it does get better. I'm eating everything now, but of course food does get trapped, but you get use to that also. The salt water rinses and water pics are wonderful. Good luck.

#4 Post by **Gennel** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:57 pm

I have a lower expander and my tongue rests against the wire on each side. My tongue does not fit lol. The pain you are going through is awful and telling you it will get better may not be what you want to hear. I was about to pull my hair out, I cried, I stopped talking almost completely because my tongue was constantly getting scraped. Right now you might not have found the exact spot on the wire that is causing your tongue so much pain. Get a couple of packs of wax ,the G.U.M. brand that will stick to the wire. After 11 days of agony I found the spot and rolled about an entire strip of wax into a ball and pressed it against my molarband and I pressed it lightly. It spread and then I felt instant relief because my tongue was resting against the wax. I used it all day for 2-3 days. Now I only put wax to sleep. Do the warm water salt rinses also a couple of times a day.

Gennel

#5 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:25 pm

I had the same trouble with my expander. OMG my tongue would literally bleed. I tried wax but it is so hard to get out once you put it on and it melts after a little while and doesn't work very well. It sounds crazy but I found some relief with blister bandaides. My tongue never got used to the appliance the whole time I had it. I tried salt water rinses, wax, brace ease, you name it, everyday I would come home with it raw and bleeding.

Here is a link to my blog. Scroll down to day 26 and it explains and shows a pic of how I did it. Not sure if you want to give it a shot, but it made a huge difference for me and would allow my tongue a little time during the day to heal instead of just getting beat up again. They do have a very slight taste to them, but nothing that is bad and it was so much better than the pain from the torture device that I just didn't care. Also, you can drink and eat soft foods without having them come off.

http://brandysjawjourney.blogspot.com/2 ... chive.html

Hope this helps!

Brandy

#6 Post by **CheekyMonkey** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:30 pm

Guys, thank you so much. The saltwater helps a bit, the wax helps a lot (although I have to practically use aa much as a candle to really cover the wire) and I'm def. going to try that bandaid!!

you guys rule!