Numb tongue after BSSO?

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Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:35 pm

I had my lower jaw advanced last Wednesday and my tongue has been increasingly numb. The tip was numb at the beginning but now the whole left side is totally numb and feels swollen. I wouldn't think that numbness would increase as the days go by, especially since my chin and lip are already getting tingles. Has anyone else had this? It affects how things taste and I'm scared that I'll never be able to taste good food...or wine...again.

#2 Post by **Mesha** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:57 am

Hey there! I am six months post-op (Lefort and BSSO) and I still have some numbness in my tongue too. I actually didn't notice it until somewhere around 8 or 10 weeks after surgery, not sure why... but the left side is almost completely numb and seems to still be just the littlest bit swollen. Besides a little bit of the tinglies left in my bottom lip, it's the only numbness I've got left. My surgeon seemed pretty confident at my last visit that the feeling would... eventually... come back, just a matter of waiting. I see him tomorrow and plan to ask him about it again. I'll let you know what he says.

#3 Post by **Tribal** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:13 am

I had a Leforte, not BSSO, but I noticed something similar with the roof of my mouth. Right after surgery it was fine, but as the swelling increased in there I started to loose feeling. I'm assuming it's probably something similar in your case. I'm hoping that once that swelling goes down sensation will start to return. It's already started a little.

Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:14 pm

So, I saw my surgeon today. I mentioned that my tongue was not numb to begin with but became that way after a few days. I was hoping for a standard "Oh, nothing to worry about, that's perfectly normal." What I got was..."Oh, that's unusual." Not very comforting words!

Anyway, he said that if it wasn't numb right after surgery, that should mean that the nerve was not severed so it most likely got irritated afterwards and would likely return to normal along with my chin/lips/etc. Let's hope. Having a numb tongue was never mentioned to me as one of the risks, and I would have seriously reconsidered the surgery if I thought such a thing could happen. As it stands now, I am unsure about how it looks.

I feel like my lower jaw looks like it's jutting so far out, almost like I need it moved back now! Is it normal to feel that way so soon after surgery?