A woman who had a marigold seed painfully lodged in her cheek has shared footage of the shocking moment it finally popped out of her salivary gland after three weeks.
Alexa Hendricks, 22, from Kentucky, went viral on TikTok after detailing how the particle ended up embedded into the inside of her cheek while she was eating a salad topped with edible flowers at Ruby’s in New York City earlier this month.
The influencer, who has more than 231,000 followers, posted her first story time about the ‘crisis’ on March 5, a few days after she ate at the restaurant.
‘If you look closely, you can see there are little flowers with like stems on them,’ she explained after showing a picture her meal.
Alexa Hendricks, 22, from Kentucky, had a flower seed lodged inside her cheek for three weeks before it popped out while she was in the car with her boyfriend
The influencer explained in her TikTok video that she was eating an apple when her jaw started to hurt. She could feel the seed moving down when she pushed on the outside of her cheek
The horrifying footage showed the sharp seed slowing working its way out of her cheek
‘So I was eating the salad, and I was almost done. I had a few more bites left. All of a sudden I felt this prick in my cheek inside my mouth.’
Hendricks said she used her tongue to feel the inside of her cheek and could feel something sharp sticking out. When she went to feel it with her finger, it went deeper into her cheek.
She went into the bathroom fearing she was having an allergic reaction because her cheek was swelling.
Hendricks included a photo of the inside of her mouth, saying, ‘You can see there is literally something in the side of my cheek.’
She noted that it hurt to eat or open her mouth wide, saying she couldn’t sleep on that side of her face because of the pain.
After an uncomfortable few days, she went to see a dentist, who couldn’t feel or see anything during her examination. Stumped, she referred her to an oral surgeon.
‘Oh! I just got it out,’ she told her boyfriend as he filmed the moment. ‘Oh my God. That has been in my cheek. I told you there was something in there! I knew it, bro’
The now-viral video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times
The doctor was also unable to find anything in her cheek and suggested that it was possible her cheek was swollen from the trauma of the prick. He prescribed a mouthwash and ibuprofen for the pain.
‘Another update on my cheek situation. It has moved back to my ear, so when I’m chewing, I feel a little bit of pain and like pinching back in my ear,’ she said on March 10.
‘I noticed this last night at dinner and then every meal that I had today. Maybe it’s working its way out?’
Hendricks later admitted that she blew off her follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon to go to the beach with her boyfriend, Samuel.
She said that the swelling had gone down, and she started to doubt there was anything inside her cheek.
TikTok users kept asking for updates, but she had nothing new to share until March 22, when the marigold seed worked its way out of her cheek while she was in the car with her boyfriend.
Hendricks first opened up about her ‘crisis’ in a clip that was posted on March 5
She explained that she was eating a salad with edible flowers at Ruby’s restaurant in New York City when she felt something prick the inside of her mouth
Hendricks went into the restaurant’s bathroom fearing she was having an allergic reaction because her cheek was swelling
‘This literally just came out of my cheek,’ she said, holding up the seed for the camera.
Hendricks explained that she was eating an apple when her jaw started to hurt all of a sudden.
When she pushed down on the outside of her cheek, she could feel the seed moving until it finally came out of her parotid gland.
‘Oh! I just got it out,’ she told her boyfriend as he filmed the moment. ‘Oh my God. That has been in my cheek. I told you there was something in there! I knew it, bro.’
The video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times, and over 1,600 people shared their thoughts in the comments.
‘God the relief must be incredible,’ one person wrote.
‘I’m so glad it worked its way out!’ another added. ‘I hope you saved it to show the restaurant. You deserve some sort of compensation.’
Hendricks shared a photo of herself smiling to show how the side of her cheek had swelled
She went to see a dentist and an oral surgeon, but neither of them could see or feel the seed
Hendricks said she started to doubt there was anything inside her cheek until the seed popped out while she was in the car
Hendricks added that the restaurant is paying her medical bills, saying, ‘They’re really on top of things and wanted to make things right’
‘You don’t understand how satisfying this is for us,’ someone else shared.
People also had plenty of questions for Hendricks, who defended her dentist and doctor, saying they believed her but couldn’t locate the seed.
She also shared that she had spoken with someone from the restaurant about the edible flower because she didn’t want the same thing to happen to someone else.
Hendricks recalled how the staffer apologized profusely, but she assured him it was a ‘freak accident.’
She added that the restaurant is paying her medical bills, and she was also offered free merchandise and a boozy brunch with friends the next time she’s in the city.
‘They’re really on top of things and wanted to make things right, so I was very appreciative of that,’ she said.
‘And their food was amazing, like I said in my previous videos, so I am super excited to go back. I’m just not going to get anything with edible flowers if that’s an option.’
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