Eee, by gum...

:(.

It seems that even when it's closed, my mouth is getting me into trouble.
A small swelling of my gums at the back of my mouth has since turned into a larger swelling, with associated discomfort (for discomfort read: "Not being able to sleep or eat properly because it hurts too much".

And that's it. No further details available at the moment, I've had the issue for a couple of days and while it hasn't got any worse, despite me starting on low-level (available without prescription) painkillers and antiseptic mouthwashes (Corsodyl/Chlorohexidine - which is available without prescription in the UK but not the US - eek!) it hasn't got any better either.

Eventually, I phoned the local clinic (having been spurred into action by a sudden (and temporary) sharp increase in pain yesterday. Their advice? "Phone the dentist". Fair enough I spose, but if you're a regular reader of the blog and you've got a decent memory, you'll remember I've seen so much of my dentist that I may as well be married to one.

Nevertheless, I found myself reluctantly phoning the NHS dentist, who (despite what the newspapers (both in the UK and the US) are fond of saying about the NHS) have sorted out an appointment for me to have a quick checkup, which is in about 50 minutes.

Is this the start of another long saga of me getting victimised/treated with long sharp instruments? Let's hope not.

But last night, when I should have been celebrating England's recent (and very effective!) win, Instead I was sitting at home feeling sorry for myself, rationing pain killers and generally having naps to try and recover from my pain-induced lack of sleep (3 hours in the last 30, up until that point).

So let's see what happens. I'll let you know more when I get back.

17:44

Right, I've been to the dentist. The problem was pretty much as I'd expected (informed opinion, aided by medical/NHS websites (don't self-diagnose, it's naughty!)), my gum was being irritated by "foreign bodies" in my mouth.
However, it's a bit more involved than that. Apparently, stress causes swelling of the gums (I've not heard that one before), and as the gum swelled over my wisdom tooth, it trapped food between the surface of the tooth and itself. Food doing what food will after a few days of being trapped in a warm damp environment, started turning into interesting chemicals which lots of interesting bacteria started eating.

My gum didn't like being in contact with at all, hence the pain and inflammation.
So after giving this "gap" a quick wash with some antiseptic stuff (more Corsodyl I think), they prescribed me with some antibiotics, which will persuade the interesting bacteria to stop being interesting and start being dead (hey, i'm all for "good bacteria", but these little sods have had me in quite a lot of pain! Payback!).

My dentist has warned me that eveb after succesful treatment, there's nothing to stop this situation reoccuring, and that I should have the aformentioned wisdom tooth removed.

Hmm, I'll have to think about whether I want that to happen or not.

Still, I've got some medicines to get through, so I'd best get started. I'm going to try and eat something in a bit.

Ciao :-)