How Long Until You Can Play Sports After Wisdom Teeth?
How Long Until You Can Play Sports After Wisdom Teeth?
Wisdom teeth removal, while fairly routine in most cases, is a surgical procedure, which means that some post-operative care and recovery time are necessary to ensure proper healing and avoid complications. Specific recommendations will differ from one patient to another, depending upon factors like wisdom teeth positioning, complexity of each particular procedure and general health, among many others. However, there are general guidelines relating to sports after wisdom teeth removal that can help patients in scheduling procedures to their best advantage.
Physical Activity Limitations During the First 24 Hours Post-Surgery
Sports, after wisdom teeth removal, are definitely off limits for the first 24 hours. In fact, any type of physical activity is to be avoided, a restriction that applies to all wisdom teeth removal patients, whether they’ve had one very simple extraction or several very complex ones.
Strenuous work, exercise, bending, heavy lifting or any other activity that elevates blood pressure during this critical period can interfere with the initial steps of the healing process, inhibiting the formation of blood clots meant to seal and protect the sockets as they heal or dislodging ones already in place. This can lead to a painful complications, including dry socket or infection.
Sports After Wisdom Teeth Removal: Time Frame to Get Back in the Game
In general, patients are advised to avoid sports and other strenuous activities for about a week.However, patient specific recommendations depend on a number of factors that can affect the complexity of the procedure, such as the number and location of wisdom teeth removed, their position in the jaw, whether impaction is an issue and how well-developed the roots of wisdom teeth are when extraction is done. The more complex the procedure, the longer the healing period.
Upper wisdom teeth removal is generally a less traumatic procedure than the removal of lower ones. Often, patients can resume light physical activity after a recovery period of about five days. However, if there is swelling, throbbing, bleeding or irritation after exercise, a few more days of rest before further exertion would be wise.
Healing often takes a bit longer after lower wisdom teeth are extracted, since the lower jawbone tends to be more dense than the upper one. With lower wisdom teeth, patients are generally advised to wait about ten days before returning to sports after wisdom teeth removal. In more complex cases, where bones must be cut to extract teeth for instance, a longer period of activity restriction may be suggested.
Dr. Falender will be familiar with your personal circumstances, and can give you a specific timetable for your return to sports after wisdom teeth removal. However, for the purpose of planning the best time for your procedure, you can reasonably assume that you will need at least a week or two to recover from surgery. If there are no acute issues with your wisdom teeth, planning your procedure for the off-season is best, ensuring that you will have plenty of time for recovery without undue pressure to get back in the game.