About two months ago I was in a motor accident that amongst other injuries left me with a jaw broken in two places. I had surgery to have plates inserted in my upper jaw at the TMJ and lower jaw of the other side. Before the surgery my face was fine, but I have had problems since.
On the TMJ side I cannot move my eyebrow, eye does not blink or close fully, middle cheek is numb, and my lip droops making my smile crooked. My nostril can very slightly flare and my under eye just sligthly flexes, its more of a spasm. My surgeon says he bumped the nerve but did not cut it. On the other I have numbness in the gums and lip. My jaw has healed since so I don't really see the surgeon often for additional questions.
From the bits ive seen online, I've heard this can take up to 3 months, up to a year, basically a range of timelines. I'd really like my face back. I'm taking all sorts of precautions to preserve the eye but I was just hoping for a healed jaw not a frozen face.
Does anybody here know anything about this kind of nerve injury with surgery at the TMJ? Recovery timeline/signs/etc.?I hope this is the right place. I've spent a ton of time reading pubmed articles and such but I figured I'd try personally reaching out here.
Nerve Damage Post Surgery
Moderator: bbsadmin
Re: Nerve Damage Post Surgery
Nerves can be very finicky. Keep an eye out for random muscle spasms and shooting pains. Those are usually signs that the nerve is waking up. You might also get a lot of pins and needles sensations, like a when your foot falls asleep, but without the pain.
If nothing was severed, you should be in good shape to get most, if not all, of your feeling and muscle control back. But nerve regeneration and healing takes a while. A couple of the other posters here that have had surgery are over a year post op and still have some numbness. I'm a few months shy of a year and still have numbness in my lower lip. A couple of my co-workers have recommended acupuncture. It might be worthwhile for you as well. Scan through some of the surgery buddy threads. The June/July 2015 thread and the 2016 threads have a lot of good information. Best of luck to you!
If nothing was severed, you should be in good shape to get most, if not all, of your feeling and muscle control back. But nerve regeneration and healing takes a while. A couple of the other posters here that have had surgery are over a year post op and still have some numbness. I'm a few months shy of a year and still have numbness in my lower lip. A couple of my co-workers have recommended acupuncture. It might be worthwhile for you as well. Scan through some of the surgery buddy threads. The June/July 2015 thread and the 2016 threads have a lot of good information. Best of luck to you!
Re: Nerve Damage Post Surgery
I can personally vouch for acupuncture. 
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justchillinxo
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:47 pm
Re: Nerve Damage Post Surgery
Yes please do what you can to help the nerves recover while you can (usually a year). I've read about massage, facial exercises and physiotherapy. I wish i knew about it when my nerve was damaged and still healing. Best of luck!