Minor health issue advice

[Robert Poste's Child]

I don't know if there's a thread for the worried well already but if there's anyone with medical experience reading I'm wondering what to do for a badly bitten tongue. Do you put it in cold water (how?), suck an ice cube, gargle with salt water? A plaster seems out of the question.

..

[ianr]

If you're not going to use homeopathy this medic's advice looks quite sensible. http://www.drgreene.com/kat-bit-her-tongue. And don't forget the sukebind.

[Salsaboy]

Whose tongue is it? Yours?

[Robert Poste's Child]

Thank you. Now stopped bleeding and I've finished all the ice cream in the fridge, but it doesn't look very nice. Let's see if I can get through the last hour of the day without another accident.

This would never happen to Flora.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Yes, it is mine, including the bit I seem to have swallowed.

[Loz]

Who bit you? :)

[Sue]

Sounds horrible, hope it's a lot better now.

Personally I'd put Rescue Remedy on it. OK, homoeopathic, but works for me.

But I sadly also want to know how it happened ......

[Twirly]

How is it this morning? Keep an eye out for infection, as out mouths are full of germs. Maybe rinse out with some dilute TCP or add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to some water and rinse with that? Might sting a bit though. Hope it's better soon. And yes, I agree with Sue, how on earth did it happen (says the woman who once bit her tongue and fainted!)

[Robert Poste's Child]

Thank you for your concern. I never thought of Rescue Remedy. It's much better this morning, thanks, though still swollen and you know how once you've bitten it you keep catching it in the same place.

I wish I had a more glamorous reason for it, one involving Ray Winstone, a bottle of wine and another place entirely, but I'm afraid it was a straightforward case of eating toast without due care and attention while distracted by a big change that's going on at work.

[The Minkey]

Ouch. Might be worth gargling with warm salt water after eating til it's healed as that's the advice you'd get following a dental extraction.

[Nigello]

Gargle with hydrogen peroxide solution. I bit the back of my tongue in my sleep in November. I didn't wake up at the time - sound sleeper that I am - but when I got up the next day I couldn't talk, was in great pain, and remained like that for three days. Swallowing was nasty because my tongue moved over the tooth in exactly the same place as it had been bitten! The H2O2 solution really helped.

[intexasatthe moment]

Difflam is good for painful mouth conditions .

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004OXAC70/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=479289247&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001PMM136&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0JAWSM2DGSRTMMHFADFN

[Robert Poste's Child]

Crisps, it turns out, are not a good idea, unless your idea of eating crisps is to wipe the salt off and suck them till they dissolve.

[Loz]

I imagine salt and vinegar crisps would be special kind of hell for you.

[Saffron]

NSAIDs for swelling. Topical clove oil.

[ianr]

Any photographs?