I used cabbage on my cheek after oral surgery last year.  I went to bed
along with books, beverages, and a small head of cabbage.  As needed, I'd
tear off a leaf, rip the big vein out by hand if there was one, and crumple
the leaf in my hand before tying it onto my cheek w/ a scarf (really
cute!). When the leaf wilted, I tossed it on the floor by the bed.  At
intervals I put a frozen pea bag in a towel over the cabbage.

I figured my level of incapacitation was about that of a new or ill mom,
and I *really* didn't want to keep trekking into the kitchen to prepare
cabbage.  Since then, I've been suggesting that moms do what I did - just
rip out the big vein if they want and crumple the rest in their hand.  Any
thoughts?

(By the way, I needed only extra-strength acetaminophen, and only for a
day, despite having been given a prescription for something potent.  No
noticeable swelling either.)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY