Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi. I am 8 weeks post op and normally have good skin. The last couple weeks I have noticed that my skin around my nose/chin/mouth to be super dry/flaky, like it hardly can be washed. My usual cleanser hardly ever made me flaky and it has been lately. Also, I notice some tiny pin head pimple around my mouth/chin area. It seems like they are in the areas that are more numb? anyone experience anything similar? do you think my skin is just trying to heal from all the swelling/stretching? Can numbness/lack of blood flow cause this? or even 8 weeks later can the effects of all the medicine still be messing with my body? thanks

Hello starteeth. Having your skin act up does seem fairly common post op, and I think your guesses are bang on: The swelling, the stretching, the medication... also the way your diet changes has got to mess things up a bit

Frustrating in the meantime, but I'd imagine that as everything gets back to 'normal' your skin should start to follow suit too.

You are definitely not alone! I have read in some others' blogs and journals that they have gotten wonky skin after surgery, and I am 6-weeks post-op and mine is acting up as well. My chin is super dry and I've also got those little pimples like you described around my chin and nose.

I'm hoping like in the previous post that as everything else continues to get back to normal that this will too...

ok thanks you all. good to know. I guess I will just keep it simple and be gentle on my skin. Eventually all will go back to normal, i hope.

It's perfectly normal for post op skin to vary from extremes of dryness and oilyness which when you think what your face has been through is perfectly understandable, it's protesting! It will eventually settle back to how it was.

Polly x

I dont know about you guys- but shaving around my chin is ridiculous post op. It just feels so different and rugged.. hard to shave for sure

Yes! I've actually taken to putting a light smearing of vaseline around my mouth to ease some of the dryness. I find that after I get out of the shower, I can get a lot of the flakies off by rubbing my towel across the dry area several times. Have to be careful though, I'm still pretty sensitive after only 10 days post-op.

--Tina

i am also having the same issue. my nose, chin, and inner cheek areas get super oily really fast, even after i wash it. my skin is also really flaky in the same areas. i've been using an exfoliator scrub which seems to help, but i can't press very hard when i wash my face because of the swelling... and i hate touching my face when it's numb, it feels so creepy haha

I too have been having the same problem. (2 weeks post surgery)
My skin has been pretty oily lately (it was oily before, but not like this), so I just make sure to wash it frequently. My skin has been peeling, which I assume to be because of the stretching its been going through. I've also gotten a lot of small pimples around my nose, my upper lip, and my chin. I stopped using my topical acne medicine the first week after surgery but I have recently started using it again which is clearing things up a little. So if you are having problems with acne, try using whatever you normally use or get some sort of cleanser from whatever drug store you go to.

@moth: Touching the numb parts of my face is creepy too! I hate it when one of the numb parts is itchy and I go to scratch it, but I can't feel it being scratched. So then I just have to sit there and wait for the itch to magically go away.

YES! I was trying to explain to my mom how my face itches..but I can't scratch it because I can't feel it. She couldn't understand how you can be itchy in a place that you can't feel!

Also, I've never had pimples in my life - but now I'm starting to get them around my upper lip and the side of my nose. Argh. What's up with that?

--Tina

Skin has gone all wonky and I thought it was because I switched my lotion! I am 3 weeks post-op and I'm having a horrible time of it with my skin. Peeling, and pimples galore! When will it stop? =/

OMG Does anyone else wonder if they are alone when things happen to them.....come to find out that there are others in the same exact boat. I thought I was going crazy when my nose started flaking after washing it and the little pimples on my chin. I just wonder how long it will last....until the meds are out of my system or until I get feeling back in my chin (if I get feeling back )!

Add me to the pimple party! I have one on my upper lip and one on my chin, I'm 7 weeks post op. I also had the dry, flaky skin, but that was during the first 2 weeks after surgery.

Add me to the pimple party! I have one on my upper lip and one on my chin, I'm 7 weeks post op. I also had the dry, flaky skin, but that was during the first 2 weeks after surgery.

Does this sort of thing ever go away? If so, how long does it take? I'm already pretty freaked out at the thought of surgery, and hearing about stuff like this just makes the apprehension worse.