Physician, heal thyself

Have you ever experienced the removal of a wisdom tooth, an infected wisdom tooth, and that followed by fever and then a dry socket? It makes you wince to even think about it, doesn’t it. Well, I endured the removal of my first wisdom tooth just two weeks ago. It was very large, so large that when I bring it out to show guest, they all believe I am showing them the tooth of an animal. I am keeping it so I can say I still have all my teeth.
The doctor gave me a prescription, but knowing how invasive those commercial drugs can be, I preferred to try the herbs instead. Don’t misunderstand me. I will use any modern medical drug or procedure if I deem it wise. But I never let the doctor make that decision alone. I try to be informed enough to weigh the matter.
    On the second day when the fever started, with it came aching in my bones, clean down to my toes. Even the hair on my head hurt. Deb went to the garden and pulled a fresh garlic. She first bruised a clove, by crushing it under her thumb. This is necessary to activate the ingredients which are inert until mixed. She then cut two 1/2 inch, cross grain slices. These she placed on either side of the tooth socket. I kept them there about one hour and repeated this with fresh garlic about every four hours. In 24 hours the infection was gone.
But the dry socket became apparent by the third day. I have writing to do, Bible studies to teach and the prison ministry, so I didn’t want to be under the influence of a powerful pain killer. Deb again went to the garden and came back with Echanasia root and cut off a thin slice about ½ inch long. This she placed beside the socket along with one clove of  cloves (the seasoning you put in apple pie). With the sweet smell of cloves, instead of the garlic stench, my family allow me back in the same room with them. For the next two weeks I had to resort to the echanasia and coves to lessen the pain.     
The Echanasia root leaves your mouth feeling fat, numb and tingly, much like it feels when the dentist’s shot is wearing off. If you don’t have access to Echanasia, the cloves alone is usually sufficient. Cloves is all I used after the first couple of days. I would slowly chew on the cloves, wallow it around, until I wore it out and then put another one in my mouth.
The herbs do not completely remove all pain, but they certainly make it bearable. I would estimate that in my case the herbs lessened the pain by 80%. I would forget the pain and continue working my normal pace.
Whole cloves are readily available at any large grocery store.