One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from physical therapy was to not heat things all the time, in fact, it's probably more important that you keep it iced to reduce any inflammation.

Not to mention the wisdom teeth. Anything dentally ends up in tension headaches, which effects the way you sit, the way you sleep... take care of that - removing wisdom teeth is something you certainly can't do on your own, and leaving them in can hurt you in the long run (beyond the pain you're feeling now).

This may or may not be a solution for you, but when I threw my back out in April 2004, I was in so much pain. I couldn't even walk straight. I was walking like I was slanted to one side, because if I tried to walk straight, I would literally wince in pain.

Eventually, I had to get a prescription for muscle relaxants to ease the pain while I gradually increased my activity. It took 2-3 weeks to get back to normal again, but it really seemed to help me out immensely.

Again, muscle relaxants don't work for everyone, but it was well worth it in my case. Sure beats popping Tylenol like Pez candy anyway.

Hope that you're feeling better soon.

Now if only Tylenol came in cool character dispensers!

DISNEY CHARACTERS!!! :D

Thanks for all the tips, guys. Miraculously, my back feels much better today. It's as if just posting on the LoT cured it. ;)

Re: the advil. Yeah, I don't normally take that much. I took four about 11:30, then at 1am I was laying in bed and my teeth and head and ear and sinus were still killing me, so I went and took another four. It worked. That's a really good point about the water though. I avoid tylenol because of the liver damage, but the kidney thing didn't really occur to me. I normally don't take anything, but lately I've been taking it a lot.

Re: wisdom teeth. Yeah, I'm going to get them fixed. I just haven't gotten around to it. They don't always bother me. Only about one week out of every six. I'm not looking forward to the recovery as strong pain meds are out of the question (as Jade is still nursing).

when I had my wisdom teeth out, two of which were heavily impacted, I think I took one or two rounds of ibuprofen in the whole time I recovered. as many horror stories as I heard, mine never really bothered me enough to take the vikes they gave me. I'd get those suckers yanked iffin I were you. I doubt you'll need any of the heavy meds...but I surely understand your concerns.

my sympathies.

Aw man. I am sorry, I didn't realize you were nursing. Hmm. I know my mouth hurt a lot after but I don't remember if I took a lot of pain meds for it. Face swollen as heck but I still went to the Del Mar Fair to see Maroon 5. And I still ate a bloomin' onion. So, maybe the pain would be the same or less if you had it done and then it would be over.

{meaning, maybe you could get by with just what you've been taking already?}

My sympathies as well.

Oh, I'm not avoiding it because of the pain. I'm just a little sad that I can't take the vicodin. :p Really I just haven't gotten around to it. Everytime it hurts for long enough to prompt me into action, then it stops hurting the day before I call to make the initial appointment. I'll do it though.

That happens to me, too!!!

Hee hee. Yeah, the vicodin is a nice little treat. :D