Monday, April 05, 2010

Scuba diving and wisdom teeth

I have found an NHS dentist and booked an appointment for the coming week. I thought by now I would be agony as for most of the last week I have been convinced a wisdom tooth on my left jaw was about to blow. Oddly, I have survived Easter and a great deal of chocolate and food - and some whisky - with minimal harm.

What happened last week was alarming. The left-side syndrome concentrated on my jaw, my ear, my left eye and my left neck. I wondered for a while whether it was in fact meningitis triggered by a tooth infection. Am I becoming a hypochondriac?

I assumed it was an infection, triggered by allergic inflammation, and took regular mouthwashes of warm salty water. I imagine that is what worked. My leg is a lot better and Australia (on my chest) is quite faint - which is what makes me alarmed that the current problems are caused by infection

I have now found the procedure for getting a medical certificate for scuba diving. It's been simplified recently -  you start off with a telephone conversation with a local expert and you may be called for examination. However they are likely to be concerned about ear problems - and at the moment I have a faint sensation in my left ear.

If there's a wisdom tooth aggravating the problems, I want it pulled before I make that call.

RAS

7 comments:

Andrea said...

Hey, I'm not sure how you are going with limited range of receipes..but have you tried


-Saffron/maple syrup/ chicken/garlic rice

-dahl...with rice. maple syrup+lentils+garlic+water coooked into a dahl

- red bean/mince/garlic/parsley cooked till the beans are mushy, haave with rice tacos, sour cream, lettuce and chives and cheese...

I know that different people react to different salicylates. but worth a try.

Andrea said...

Hey, I just thought of another receipe.....I think.

Traditional cornish pasty filling with a rice flour based pastry.
- Turnips (or parsnips), potato, meat(beef), butter filling for pasty.

I can't remember whether turnips, parsnips are high or low levels...i'm pretty sure they are low. and there must be some kind of pastry alternative.

RAS said...

Some nice ideas Andrea but garlic, red beans, chives and parsnips are no good, so far as I know.

Alison said...

I stumbled on your blog while researching salicylate free toothpaste, and I'm so happy I did.

I have a salicylate sensitivity, too, and it's been helpful to read about your experiences with this rare "allergy."

Please keep writing!

Anonymous said...

Chives and garlic are listed as Failsafe on some web sites.

Elizabeth Cull said...

Tomorrow I'm accompanying my sister to the dentist (Lake forest IL based) clinic because she's in pain. Her wisdom tooth might be erupting, too. I have my share of experience last year and I can't take any analgesics because I have terrible allergies when using pain killers. I had visited our family dentists (Lake Forest IL based) clinic nearby and true enough it was the wisdom tooth.

I hope everything goes well for the two of you. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Unknown said...

I think, it would be better to get your wisdom tooth extracted and get all healed up before going for a dive. By the way as a fan of Whitsunday scuba diving, I hope you can pass the examination with flying colors.

Last time me and my friends went to the island of Whitsunday, scuba diving was the first thing we did, since we all love going underwater to appreciate the beautiful marine life.