Cheek numbness is not a particularly common problem. However, if your left cheek is numb, then the cause should be determined by a doctor. Therefore, if such a symptom appears, be sure to contact a medical facility. In some cases, such a sign may indicate the development of a serious problem. But for what reasons does the left cheek go numb? How to deal with this symptom? We will talk about this in the article.
Possible reasons
If the left cheek is numb, then the reason may lie in squeezing the face during sleep. In such situations, the blood supply to this area deteriorates. But for what reasons does the left cheek still go numb? They may be as follows:
- Neuritis of the occipital or facial nerve.
- Inflammation of the lymph nodes, as well as diseases of the lymphatic system.
- Hypertensive infection.
- Oncological neoplasms in the facial region. The fact is that such neoplasms, as well as their metastases, can compress nerves, thereby worsening innervation.
- Insufficient amounts of vitamins E and B in the body.
- Facial trauma, surgery, flux.
- Vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension.
- Stroke.
- Osteochondrosis.
- Migraine.
- Hypothermia.
- Damage or inflammation of the parotid salivary gland.
- The impact of anesthetics used during FGDS, as well as tooth extraction.
- ENT diseases, which include rhinitis, sinusitis and others.
- Multiple sclerosis, as well as other diseases of the peripheral nerves.
- Diseases of gums and teeth.
- Diabetic neuropathy.
Now let's look at the symptoms in some of the cases.
Situations when swelling does not threaten health
To find out why your cheek is swollen, but nothing hurts, you need to go to the doctor. If this happens after tooth extraction, there is no need to worry. Swelling of the cheeks can be caused by the following reasons:
- Presence of edema before surgery.
- Extraction against the background of a pronounced inflammatory process.
- Complex operations in the oral cavity. Long-term surgical interventions, which are complex multi-stage processes: wisdom tooth removal, bone cutting, lead to severe trauma to the surrounding tissue. The periodontium, which has been subjected to mechanical damage, can become inflamed and react with swelling, which spreads to the buccal area.
- The presence of certain diseases that contribute to the occurrence of swelling after surgery: hypertension, neurological disorders. With such pathologies, the situation when the cheek is swollen, but the tooth does not hurt, is a common occurrence.
- When the gum tissue is inflamed. In this case, an incision is made in the gum, which provokes buccal swelling. If there is an abscess or gumboil, before removing the tooth, the dentist dissects the gum tissue to allow the pus to drain out. As a result, the tissue swells and the tumor spreads further.
Normally, the condition when the cheek is swollen after surgery lasts no more than a week. Swelling of the buccal area after extraction subsides gradually and goes through certain stages:
- A few hours after surgery, and sometimes on the first day, swelling may be present with pain of moderate severity or no pain.
- On the third postoperative day, the tumor reaches its maximum size, and there is a feeling that the cheek is swollen. In the following days, the swelling decreases and disappears by 7–8 days.
Avitaminosis
Nicotinic acid, vitamins B, E, cobalamin, pyridoxine play an important role in ensuring the functioning of the entire nervous system. A lack of these elements can be observed with the development of diseases of the digestive system: hepatitis, gastritis, helminthic infestation in the small intestine, enteritis, giardiasis. A deficiency of these elements can lead to numbness and tingling not only in the cheek area, but also in the chin and lips.
Prevention
Regardless of why the cheek swells and what are the causes of its swelling, it is necessary to follow simple rules to prevent diseases of the oral cavity. Basic preventive measures:
- Compliance with oral hygiene procedures. It is necessary to brush your teeth for at least 10 minutes 2 times a day. It is worth using dental floss to remove food debris and plaque. Remove plaque as thoroughly as possible, it creates an optimal environment for the proliferation of pathogenic microbes.
- Regular visits to the dentist. A visit to a specialist will help prevent many diseases, identify existing problems, and avoid complications. The dentist will conduct a professional examination of the oral cavity and professional teeth cleaning. If necessary, a set of therapeutic measures will be prescribed.
- Balanced and rational nutrition. A nutritious diet strengthens the body, ensures it is saturated with necessary elements, which has the most beneficial effect on the health of teeth and gums. Resistance to harmful microorganisms and the ability to restore soft and bone tissues increase.
- The use of vitamin complexes that restore the balance of nutrients and elements, replenishing their deficiency.
- Physical exercise. Physical activity improves the general condition of the body, strengthens the immune system, enhances metabolic processes, and improves the functioning of all systems.
- Healthy psycho-emotional background. Many unpleasant symptoms occur against the background of psychoemotional disorders, including neurological pain and swelling in the face.
- Regular visits to a therapist will help cure diseases that provoke inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, disorders of the regenerative ability of bone tissue, and dental problems.
The condition when swelling of the cheek area occurs can be caused by a number of reasons. It is necessary to contact a doctor immediately to find out and eliminate the factor that caused the swelling and prevent possible complications.
How to treat?
So, we figured out why the left cheek goes numb. How to treat this symptom? First of all, to find out the exact cause, you need to visit your doctor. Depending on the reason why your left cheek is numb, treatment will be prescribed by your specialist. So, let’s look in more detail at what methods of therapy will be used in this or that case, which is accompanied by the appearance of numbness in the left cheek:
- As a rule, when sensitivity decreases, B vitamins are prescribed. In parallel, electrophoresis with hyaluronidase, nicotinic acid, vitreous, aloe, and other biologically active stimulants is performed.
- If some inflammatory disease has been identified, for example, periodontal disease, carious teeth, then they are treated. To do this, dead teeth are removed and the oral cavity is sanitized.
- If numbness of the cheek appears due to sinusitis, then this disease is treated with rinsing and antibiotics, which are prescribed by an ENT specialist.
- In case of neuralgia, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used, as well as reflexology. In parallel with this, a specialist may prescribe electrophoresis or acupuncture.
- To treat multiple sclerosis, special hormones and immunosuppressants are prescribed to suppress the immune attack.
- In case of hemorrhage, the patient should be urgently hospitalized, after which antihypoxic drugs are prescribed. Ischemic stroke is provoked by arterial thrombosis, which can be eliminated with the use of fibrinolytic drugs, as well as anticoagulants.
- If numbness occurs after using energy drinks, then, as a rule, this symptom goes away on its own. In such situations, no treatment is required.
Treatment of inflammation on the cheek at home
In a situation where the gums and cheek are swollen, something needs to be done to alleviate the condition before visiting a specialist. You can relieve pain and swelling at home using the following means:
Mouth rinses with herbal decoctions and solutions made from natural ingredients. Brewed calendula flowers, chamomile, and sage decoction have a pronounced anti-inflammatory, soothing and cleansing effect. You need to take 2 tablespoons of flowers, pour 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 15 minutes. You need to rinse your mouth 2 times a day, you can moisten a piece of cotton wool and apply it from the inside.- When the cheek is swollen, using solutions with soda or salt is effective. The solutions help remove swelling and have an analgesic and antiseptic effect. You can make a solution like this: add one teaspoon of salt or soda to a glass of warm water and mix. You need to rinse your mouth several times a day.
- Cooling, decongestant ointments and gels. These drugs effectively relieve swelling and eliminate pain. Among the most common are Troxevasin, Fastum gel. The products are gently rubbed into the affected area. The procedure is repeated 2-3 times a day. The most effective use of drugs to relieve swelling in case of allergic reactions and in cases where babies are teething.
- Rinsing with pharmaceutical antiseptics. Antibacterial drugs that have a healing and regenerating effect are always effective when the cheek is swollen, regardless of the cause of the tumor. Therefore, their wide distribution is justified. Popular antiseptics include: Furacilin, Chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide.
If Furacilin is purchased in tablets, the solution is made independently: one tablet must be dissolved in 100 ml of hot water. The product is kept in the mouth mainly from the side of the edema, then spat out. The procedure is repeated 3 times a day.
Rinse the mouth with chlorhexidine twice a day. Hydrogen peroxide is diluted with water in proportions of 1 to 1. Rinsing should be repeated twice a day.
Which doctor should I contact if part of my head goes numb?
The causes of numbness in any area of the head (face, back of the head, right or left side) will be different factors and situations. There is no need to make a diagnosis yourself. To identify the exact causes, you need to contact medical specialists.
The very first doctor to confirm or rule out pathology of the nervous system should be a neurologist. The feeling of numbness is associated with loss of sensitivity, which means that somewhere the passage of electrical impulses along the nerve fiber is disrupted.
A common cause is osteochondrosis of the cervical spine; due to chronic changes in the intervertebral discs, the nerve roots are pinched by neighboring vertebrae. A more serious cause may be a stroke.
Symptoms are sometimes associated with compression of nerves and blood vessels. There is a decrease, sometimes significantly, in the access of nutrients and oxygen to tissues.
Diagnostics
If signs appear repeatedly, then examination by a specialist is required. In this case, the following measures will be taken to detect the cause of the disease:
- trigeminal nerve examination;
- radiography of the skull, ear and nasopharynx;
- tomography;
- Ultrasound assessment of the condition of blood vessels.
Sometimes a serological test is performed to determine the protein level and cell content in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Electromyography may be prescribed to identify pathologies of the trigeminal nerve.
If it is not possible to find out the causes of numbness, then the person is sent for examination to an otolaryngologist to diagnose disorders in the nasal cavity.
When none of the listed methods helped to detect the cause, the diagnosis of “idiopathic trigeminal neuropathy” is made by exclusion. Treatment will be long-term - from several months to several years.
Why is there numbness under the eye?
The causes of numbness in the facial skin under the eye are similar to the etiology of loss of sensitivity in the cheek area. If a physiological factor is excluded (uncomfortable position, hypothermia, reaction to a cosmetic product or an insect bite), then the cause of the symptom is a neurological, vascular or other pathology.
Other reasons:
- Migraine. Migraine headaches can develop into loss of sensation in the cheek area and under the eye. The attack is accompanied by vomiting, dizziness, and tinnitus.
- Injury. Often the skin under the eye becomes numb due to a head injury. Symptoms present: dizziness, nausea, convulsions, difficulty breathing.
- Vegetative-vascular dystonia. With pathology, the face goes numb under the eye due to low blood pressure, dizziness, and weakness.
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