i just recently had my wisdom teeth removed (under anesthesia, 4 teeth cut out w/ a chipped jaw) last week and have been recovering. sine i have a big week of races coming up i decided to hop back on the bike and ride through the pain - now the actual teeth or jaw don't hurt, i just feel really worn down and tired - problems breathing and pushing any of my muscles.

i expected this but i'm not sure the best way to deal with it. ride through it or take a few more days off and let it all get out. i assume this is more the effect of the percocet they gave me (although the last two times ive gone riding i've only had the pain killer at 5 in the morning and my rides would be at like 6pm). any advice?

Don't ride on painkillers. You also are not supposed to do any serious activity after wisdom teeth removal.

I do anesthesia for a living. I don't know exactly what kind of anesthesia you had, but I can say that all of the drugs we currently use would be completely gone from your system by now. Also, taking a percocet in the morning and then riding in the evening should be ok as far as the drug issue is concerned, it too would be out of your system.

I have to agree that you might want to take it easy until those tooth sockets completely heal. Maybe some slower rides on the trainer, i.e. less impact workouts.

As for feeling sluggish, IMO it's because your body is in a state where it's trying to repair itself, so it's working hard even when you are not, if that makes sense.

Good luck, stay healthy.

it's like any other surgery , it's a trauma and you have to recover, even if the rest of your body is fine. I had gum surgery years ago and was on painkillers...it also gave me black eye! i'd be careful for a few days and not do anything too intense...riding is probably okay but no mash fests or races. Just relax and enjoy those drugs!!!

awesome thanks for the input, definitely a lot of peace of mind. am over a week since surgery and starting to feel better. have a lot of racing starting on tuesday, any recommendations on how i should structure fri-mon (race tuesday, will take monday off probably) to prepare for a week of crits after being off the bike for a while due to illness?