Screws in your face. How scary. :(

[Elspeth]

I've pretty much steeled myself to the fact of having my face peeled off, bones broken, cracked, spliced, etc etc...

But whenever I think of having screws and plates in my face, forever, I feel all... confronted! I can't seem to get comfortable with the idea of having metal things permanently in my face. It feels unnatural (never mind the fact the surgery is bizarre too!). Can you ever feel said metal things once they're in your face?

Anyone else find this inevitable prospect frightening?

[loulou123]

Hey

This freaked me out a little too, especially just after surgery. But now i need another operation to remove them, and id rather they stayed where they were!

I can feel something on the left side, but on the right cant feel them at all. Some people seem to feel them and some dont i guess

The way i tried to look at it, was that people have transplants and things (eg kidneys etc) quite commonly and that must feel MUCH stranger.

[loulou123]

Hey

This freaked me out a little too, especially just after surgery. But now i need another operation to remove them, and id rather they stayed where they were!

I can feel something on the left side, but on the right cant feel them at all. Some people seem to feel them and some dont i guess

The way i tried to look at it, was that people have transplants and things (eg kidneys etc) quite commonly and that must feel MUCH stranger.

[suetemi]

I haven't had surgery yet so I don't know what it's going to feel like, but the idea did initially freak me out a bit. I've seen people around here joke that with all the hardware in their face they're now "bionic", which is how I plan on dealing with it. After surgery I plan on showing everyone at school/work my pano x-rays so everyone can marvel at the metal..."Look at meee, I'm a cyborg!"

The way i tried to look at it, was that people have transplants and things (eg kidneys etc) quite commonly and that must feel MUCH stranger.

Not just kidneys but hands or faces ! I read on the news about a man who had a hand transplant, and then eventually had it amputated because he couldn't psychologically get used to the idea of having someone else's hand.

[Rach]

I didn't really think about the metal being a part of me before the surgery that much.
I can only feel the plates and screws if i purposley look for them. But because my whole jaw is kinda different anyway it doesn't bother me that much.
About a month ago i thought I felt a screw sticking out at the back of my mouth it was there a few days then dissapeared so I don't think it was.
I wouldn't fret about it, its not as if its noticable to anyone.
Rach

[phil]

Last surgery I felt my plates on both sides. This time, I can only feel one on the right side--the one that's LOOSE!

Some people cannot tolerate them psychologically, and eventually have them removed. I will have to be on my deathbed in order for a surgeon to ever approach me with a scalpel again!!!

[didrake]

I had my chin moved forward, if I went feeling about where would I find plates? I was a bit nervous of having metal things in my jaw, but I have noticed them.

[didrake]

Or should I say haven't noticed them

[december08changed]

Honestly it's pretty weird. I can only feel plates and screws on the right side and they kind of throb occasionally so I'm going to see if I can get them removed eventually, but I doubt my OS will be enthusiastic about it.

It is kind of weird, everything with this surgery, so I guess that would be why I've had such trouble dealing with going through with it. I didn't really do any research before and it was considered medically necessary as my insurance covered it completely(I live in Canada). SO I guess the choice comes down to, what's worse having screws in your face or your malocclusion. For me, I've come to the conclusion that I guess it was all worth it. But it's funny, the surgery had a big enough impact on most people here to kep on posting and talking about it long after it happened to them. I don't think the same can be said about people who just had braces.

[nimo]

I can't feel the plates in my face at all. After my surgery when I yawned it made the right side of my nose twinge, and I think it might have been the bone pushing agains the plates. But that's gone now, and I don't notice anything, except the shape of my face is different. I think I found where one of the plates is, but I have to really go exploring to find it. It's not a big deal at all.

[Elspeth]

I haven't had surgery yet so I don't know what it's going to feel like, but the idea did initially freak me out a bit. I've seen people around here joke that with all the hardware in their face they're now "bionic", which is how I plan on dealing with it. After surgery I plan on showing everyone at school/work my pano x-rays so everyone can marvel at the metal..."Look at meee, I'm a cyborg!"

Haha! Well, the idea of being bionic is kind of cool, but its also quite strange! I suppose it does just come down to whether you think your bite and appearance is more important over having mostly-unnoticable screws in the face...

I just think that if I ever am able to feel the screws (once the surgery is done) I'll be soooo freaked out! Just thinking about the possible sensations and weirdness makes me squeamish. I'm kind of paranoid that they'd unscrew themselves and my jaw would fall off of something. And silly things like that.

[Emaciated]

This is what's currently in my face forever. I can't feel any of it.

[dubnobass]

I never gave it any thought until after the operation. When I woke up and felt my face with my fingers, I found a hard swollen lump about 1cm below my right tear duct and assumed they must have slipped with the instruments mid-op. The lump remains, and examination of my x-rays shows it to be the topmost screw on one of the plates on my upper jaw, which for some reason isn't screwed in as far as the others.

I quite like using it as a prop to explaining what I had done - "I have 6 titanium plates and 30 screws in my face" works better when they can feel one of the screws .

I can't feel any of the other hardwear at all.

[loulou123]

I know exactly what you mean dubnobass, its almost like an evil little game to make people feel the screws! I can feel one of mine on the left side and i remember making my boyfriend and several mates cringe, by asking them if they wanted to feel it! lol

[Andantae]

I know exactly what you mean dubnobass, its almost like an evil little game to make people feel the screws!

LOL! The 'Closet Loulou' finally comes out!!!

Dubnobass: Way to draw an audience into the story! BTW, I read your surgery pages a few times--thank you for sharing----it is most helpful and an amazing journey---sporting 6 plates and 30 screws post op---WOW.

For some reason the idea of screws and plates doesn't bother me, either. Maybe it's because 2 years ago I had surgery on a broken leg to replace 2 torn, unusable ligaments. They used cadaver, CADAVER, CA-DAV-ER parts!!!! *EEEEyyyyuuuu!* My already overactive imagination went rampant---Who was it????? How long had they been dead????? Was he/she just kept in the freezer somewhere nearby or are there various body parts bobbing around in a vat of liquid nirtrogen in some dark laboratory(insert lightening bolt)???? Or do they use handy, and stackable individually marked Tupperware containers? Freezer wrap? Do they just slice off body parts on an As Needed basis? Who was keeping track of the 'freshness' factor and the Expiration Dates .........???

Someone else's DEAD tissues sewn into me. No, a couple of plates and some screws seem innocuous in contrast!

Elspeth~

I realize it's totally not the same thing, but I wonder if it would help you to feel/see/hold some plates and screws ahead of time. Titanium is unexpectedly feather light, and doesn't have that 'cool' feel to the touch like many metals. Perhpas it would alleviate some of the 'foreign body' weirdness/strangeness to become a little familar with them in advance (albiet in another context)? Just grasping for ideas for you....