Did you know you can sustain serious sports injuries after having oral surgery? The anesthesia causes the muscles and joints to relax. In the last 9 months I have put together something interesting about returning to sports after teeth removal. Every doctor is different, but if you’re a competitive athlete, you might want to take some important advice. How long should you take off of physical activity?
Post anesthesia
Anesthesia is the medicine that the doctor gives you during oral surgery.
This medicine makes you feel sleepy and keeps you from feeling pain.
If you have your wisdom teeth taken out, you want to take off from intense sports activity for 2-5 days.
The reason you want to be cautious is because the anesthesia relaxes your muscles and cause soreness afterwards.
These side effects could result in possible injury.
Postoperative Muscle Pain (Myalgia)
Severe muscle and joint discomfort that may be experienced after surgery is known as postoperative muscle pain (myalgia).
This is quite distressing, fairly common, but rather an interesting condition.
It usually appears on the first day after surgery.
Often described as feeling similar to the pain one might suffer after unaccustomed physical exercise, and is usually located in the neck, shoulder and upper abdominal muscles.
ACL tear 2 days after wisdom teeth removal
One of my trainees had a ACL tear during a high school game 2 days after having his wisdom teeth removed.
Once he was back training with me 7-9 months later, I asked him how he thinks it happened.
His response was that he had oral surgery 2 days before…
The medicine can make the muscles and joints too relaxed, so you need to come back slowly.
A week off after oral surgery
Fast forward 9 months after [Aidan] had the ACL tear, one of my other players [Spencer] said his dentist told him to take 1 week off of sports.
Spencer was upset because he had to miss a big tournament due to not participating in team practice that week.
I told him to be thankful because another player sustained a serious injury after having his wisdom teeth taken out.
Some Doctors write that they want a week off to let the mouth heal, in case they get hit in that area. Although, others believe it’s safe to take off due to injuring muscles or ligaments.
How to return to sports after wisdom teeth removal
- Take off completely from all exercise for 48 hours
- On the 3rd and 4th day you can do most everything, but be careful in games. Sports like wrestling, basketball and soccer are sports where you can get hit in the mouth.
- On the 5th and 6th day you should be good to go on everything, but you make the call.
Actual games or practices that force you to cut and turn as fast as you can are where you want to be careful.
How long does anesthesia stay in your system?
It depends on the dose and your procedure, but can last up to 36 hours.
You should ask your doctor.
Scheduling your oral surgeries
If you’re a competitive athlete than you are busy with training and competitions.
Try to schedule your wisdom teeth removal or oral surgeries during your off-season or times where you don’t have any important games or tournaments coming up.
Better safe than sorry
Most people don’t know taking off 2-7 days is recommended.
How long you take off should also depend on what your sport requires…
Jogging or doing something light should be completely fine after a few days, but playing in a game or doing something intense is when I would wait a week.
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