Numb patches ? post op. 1/half year

[aj08229]

Hello , after having double jaw surgery for my underbite i still have numb patches which i am confused with numbness or scar tissue or anything like that because when i touch my lower lip or chin i can feel it , but there is always some heaviness or stiffness in that area which i think most of patients are not fimiliar with , in cold i can feel it is frozen , feels like the area has become over sensitive to cold but not really to heat , i just feel stiff . more on the left side of my lip and chin , and little bit on right but noticable for me , any alternatives or therapies that would help? thank you

[divelizard]

Hi, I am 42 and I had a BSSO and Genioplasty 13 months ago, I am still numb and tingly in the top half of my chin, lower lip and the front section of my lower arch. None of my specialist team has confirmed my suspiscions, but other forums are saying that if you don't have your feeling back by the 6th month mark, then your numbness is likely permanent, but I am not ready to run up the surrender flag yet, I believe anything is possible, and if what I have, is what I have to live with for the rest of my life, then its going to be pretty crappy.

Just trying to eat and drink in public is immensely embarrassing, as usually end up with it all over my chin or down the front of my shirt like a 2 year old, because of the numbness.

A week and ago I got most of my screws and plates taken out, the surgeon did not want to attempt the ones in my chin, because he was worried about the amount of trauma he was going cause to get to them (my lower gums did not fair well, they have receeded quiet a bit in the healing process) and also the likelihood that they would snap in the process. Boy did that make a difference, prior to that my entire chin felt like it had permanent frost bite and numbness as well as a numb lower lip, accompanied by crazy electric shock feeling shooting through my lower arch whenever I touched my teeth or right side of my chin. I was on morphine precursors pain meds for the first month after surgery, then the surgeon put me on Lyrica (Pregablin) because the nerve pain was the only issue, however after 6 weeks of taking it, I quit it because the side effects were worse then the little bit of pain reduction I was getting.

Now just one week later after having the plates removed the electric shocks are gone and the numbness in my chin has improved by 50 percent, which am quiet excited about, however my lip is still numb and still has the cold/tingly feeling. I'm hoping madly that this continues to improve over the coming weeks.

I should have been onto it from the get go, but I am massaging my chin everyday in an attempt to break-up the scar tissue the I am about to embark on taking some supplements, I've read that Lingual B12, Tummeric, Acetyl L Carnitine and fish/krill oil all help with nerve regeneration, because I have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Best of luck

[aj08229]

Divelizard , i did not have had genioplasty though my chin and lower lip was stiff and felt like frozen , it is better than before but not completely , which kind of oil you use for massaging and any improvements with it ? all the best

[divelizard]

Actually I don't use oil, was just doing dry manipulation, to get blood flowing in the area, maybe I should, probably a bit of coconut oil, which is an excellent moisturiser, but I'm old, you might not need moisture yet - ha ha!

I know you didn't have a Genio, but the same nerve is still involved, it is stretched during the BSSO, it seems to be the chin where the cold/tight sensation shows up and its a matter of encouraging the nerve to recover and function normally again, I often wonder if anybody has a 100% nerve recovery, or if they just put up with altered sensation and don't really talk about it.

I've only been massaging for a week, I started as soon as I could touch my jaw without pain after I had my plates/screws out, I definitely think I've had about 50% improvement, but I can't absolutely say if it's the massage or not, it might be the metal coming out but it certainly does feel nice and like I said what have you got to lose?

[aj08229]

yes sure thing let me know if there is any improvment and anything that would help to recover , we are kinda in the same boat

[wigglewiggle]

Is there a way where the doctors examined where our facial nerves are positioned before surgery so that they don't get cut?

[divelizard]

Yes there certainly is, a cone beam CT scan, builds a digital 3D model, but most surgeons just don't worry except in cases of severe facial deformity where the placement cannot be predicted. The trigeminal nerves are big and quite hard to miss. In any case while cutting the nerve has certainly accidently happened, it is not necessarily that, that causes the numbness and nerve pain. During a BSSO I think they push or relocate the nerve out of the way when they perform the bone cuts and splitting and it is this moving stretching that causes the trauma to the nerve thus injury. Some people recover brilliantly, some don't and although they say that the percentage of permanently injured patients is small, I would tend to disagree with the figures, because this forum and others are full of people that are asking questions and searching for remedies to numbness problems. I don't think that the risk is always plainly made clear. I know both my orthodontist and surgeon were very blasé with the explanation and consequences of the procedure, if I had of known I was going to experience such horrific nerve pain for a year post, and that my lower arch, lip and chin would still be numb 16 months post op, I may not have stormed ahead so fast. I'm just saying.