Constant burning and tingling in chin area

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#1 Post by **uoft28** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:42 am

Ok, so I finally decided to post about my situation on this forum, as it is kind of freaking me out. I'm sure a lot of you guys are experiencing or have experienced this same feeling when it came to the possibility or having permanent nerve damage. So to share your experiences regarding this issue will help a lot.

I had upper, lower and genioplasty done in Toronto exactly 4 weeks ago, by a very reputable surgeon. Immediately after surgery, I woke up to find only a small portion of the right side of my nose to be numb, as well as chin and lower lip completely.

Now, on day 6, or 7, I had a sudden feeling of burning and tingling to start on my chin (particularly intense in its tip). And since then it never went away (again, I'm now on week 4). It is less or more intense - less intense in the morning, more intense at night, I find - but it is always there. And it is definitely not simply tingling, because I have a tingling feeling on my nose, as the feeling to the area is returning, and it only happens when I touch, and it is not very bothersome at all, as most of you have described here.

It is more like a pulsating, burning sensation with occasional tingling that is very distracting. It is so intense to the point of being distracting sometimes. Sometimes it is even difficult to go to sleep. It is very much like the feeling of a foot, or a leg going to sleep, except that my chin never wakes up!

So, on the one hand I am glad I am not entirely numb on the area, but at the other, I am afraid that this might be a sign that my IAN (alveolar nerve) was severed, during the surgery, because I thought that good tingling and burning were always accompanied by gradual recovery of normal sensation - and as most of you guessed, mine is not. 

Is anyone out there feeling, or have felt this constant bothersome tingling/burning sensation on their chins and still are not feeling any normal sensation returning to them? Does permanent nerve damage of the chin area result in permanent bothersome feeling, or even when this happens there is at least a slight improving of sensation over time- meaning it gets less bothersome over time?

Thanks a lot for the answers guys,
and good luck to all of us on our recoveries.

Cheers,

Diogo

#2 Post by **Audra** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:59 am

If your nerve was severed you would have absolutely no feeling at all. There would be no burning or tingling. You would have zero sensation.

When I had knee surgery 8 years ago, a nerve was severed and I have had no feeling on the side of my knee since then and was told, obviously, that it would always be numb.

What you are experiencing is nerve trauma, which we all experience to some degree or other after this surgery. When nerves regenerate, it doesn't always feel good. Electric shocks, tingling and burning can be par for the course.

#3 Post by **descantus** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm

4 weeks out of surgery is WAAAAY to soon to start stressing about nerve damage! It can take up to a year for them to regenerate - the roof of my mouth and upper gums are completely numb as well as part of my chin and lip, i'm having the same tingling feeling as you are but was warned not to expect any proper return of sensation for months. I'm not concerned in the slightest

So don't worry, all this is normal and most of us have experienced similar, so if you stop focusing on it and get on with your normal activities you'll be bothered by it far less.

If you're still worried have a search on this forum there are countless others who've had the same worries. Even better give your surgeon a quick call.

good luck!

#4 Post by **queenofoverbite** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:27 pm

My jaw surgeon steered me away from getting an optional genio, because he said I could lose some degree of feeling for the rest of my life.

#5 Post by **uoft28** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:57 pm

Thanks for the reply guys.

Audra, from the basic research that I've done on google I found out that permanent sensory nerve damage does not necessarily mean complete numbness of the region, but rather "permanent altered sensation". I have read a post from one person on this forum who described that she has been feeling the tingling sensations on her chin from the very first days post-op, and after 1.5 year when she went to see her surgeon again, after doing some tests, he said to her not to expect any improvement of the feelings at all in the area.

Again, I am really simply concerned that the feelings of intense burning/prickling/tingling that I have won't go away anytime soon. Even if it is temporary, it is so damn irritating it is definitely affecting my life in a way I was not aware it was possible before the surgery. I was always told, and was convinced, that the tingling wouldn't be too bothersome . And this definitely is.

#6 Post by **Audra** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:00 pm

I'm thinking if you polled everyone here, you would not be the first or only one who said they were not prepared for what the numbness, tingling etc. experience would be like. I'm almost 8 weeks post up and I agree that it is seriously annoying. In fact I hate it and it makes me crabby more often than not. Hang in there. It does get better. While I'm still going through it, it feels better than it did at 4 weeks.

#7 Post by **uoft28** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:08 pm

Great to hear I'm not the only one stuck with this feeling. Let's just hope this will end soon

#8 Post by **anna1222** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:39 pm

uoft28, just curious, who was your surgeon?

#9 Post by bb » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:16 pm

The numbness is quite worrisome in the early weeks. I couldn't imagine myself functioning normally with a numb chin and lower lip but now at 3 months I can drink without dripping and talk normally even with the numbness. So while it would suck big time to stay numb, it's not as traumatic a thing as I first thought it would be.

I just found out that my neighbour, who had 2 jaw surgeries, never recovered the feeling in her chin. I've known her for a while and would never had guessed it.

#10 Post by **crumble** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:30 am

Just to echo what has been already say, it's far too early to be worried about permanent damage yet.

I was well aware of the chances of permanent damage, and immediate numbness following surgery but at 7 weeks post-op I'm still continually suprised by the sensations I'm feeling. Sometimes it will be the burning/stinging you describe, sometimes when I touch my lips I feel it as extreme coldness, and cometimes I feel water/drool is running down my chin but when I touch there it's bone dry! I just accept it as the strange ways my body is recovery and am confident that this will go away one day as 7 weeks there is already more feeling than there was at 4 weeks etc