Re: How much numbness is normal?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

At 5 days post op, yes it is very typical. I had a Lefort 3-piece on

June 28th and still have a little bit of numbness in my upper cheeks,

upper lip, and nose. I was told by my OS to expect this numbness to

linger for up to a year. I will have to say that at almost 6 weeks post

op, it is 90% better than where you are at now. So hang in there

because it will get better. It was like overnight for me I woke up and

a good bit of the numbness was gone. I think 5 weeks post op is when I

noticed a big improvement in the numbness.

--Caboose

> I'm day 5 post upper and lower, and the numbness I have all over my

> face really is astonishing. In fact, it seems to have actually gotten

> a little worse over the last two days...I was expecting numb spots

> here and there, but the entire sides of my noses, along with my entire

> cheek faces right up to my eyelids are completely numb...along with

> substantial numbness in my upper and lower lips, and chin. Imagine a

> plunger centered squarely over my nose...the entire circular area it

> would cover feels completely numb.

>

> Is this much numbness typical? Of course, of course, the correct

> answer is always ask your OS, which is what I plan on doing at my 1-

> week follow up in 2 days, but it never hurts to get some UNbiased

> feedback from fellow surgical patients.

[Guest guest]

I had upper/lower/genio on 7/21 and felt the same way when I

realized the numbness to be so extensive. However, I now see the

numbness to be decreasing very slightly each day. At just 2+ weeks

I have a good amount of feeling in my upper lip and 1/2 of my

lower. My cheeks aren't numb and most of my nose isn't that numb

anymore. My chin and lower eyes down to upper lip is still pretty

numb but inproving.

The tingling sensation while annoying means that you're getting

feeling back. I have found that any kind of stimulation to the numb

areas encourages tingling and the return of sensation. My OS agreed

that when I tap gently on my face in different areas, it helps.

Halley

> > I'm day 5 post upper and lower, and the numbness I have all over

my

> > face really is astonishing. In fact, it seems to have actually

gotten

> > a little worse over the last two days...I was expecting numb

spots

> > here and there, but the entire sides of my noses, along with my

entire

> > cheek faces right up to my eyelids are completely numb...along

with

> > substantial numbness in my upper and lower lips, and chin.

Imagine a

> > plunger centered squarely over my nose...the entire circular

area it

> > would cover feels completely numb.

> >

> > Is this much numbness typical? Of course, of course, the

correct

> > answer is always ask your OS, which is what I plan on doing at

my 1-

> > week follow up in 2 days, but it never hurts to get some

UNbiased

> > feedback from fellow surgical patients.

[Guest guest]

hey i had upper and lower and i was as numb as you are...i don't think

it went quite up to my eyelids but i'm 15 days post op now and my

upper gums, around my nose and parts of my nose are still numb...my

upper lips didn't start regaining feeling til at least 7 days post op

and maybe more like 9 or 10. Hope this helps!!

> I'm day 5 post upper and lower, and the numbness I have all over my

> face really is astonishing. In fact, it seems to have actually

gotten

> a little worse over the last two days...I was expecting numb spots

> here and there, but the entire sides of my noses, along with my

entire

> cheek faces right up to my eyelids are completely numb...along with

> substantial numbness in my upper and lower lips, and chin. Imagine

a

> plunger centered squarely over my nose...the entire circular area

it

> would cover feels completely numb.

>

> Is this much numbness typical? Of course, of course, the correct

> answer is always ask your OS, which is what I plan on doing at my 1-

> week follow up in 2 days, but it never hurts to get some UNbiased

> feedback from fellow surgical patients.

[Guest guest]

Hang in there. You're only 5 days post op. The numbness is normal

and will get better with time. I was numb from from lower eyelids to

upper lip. Left nose especially had no feeling. Lower lip had

numbness as well as chin.

I noticed about week 4 things starting to change big time and between

5-6 week most of the cheek numbness was gone and some of the lip

numbness. I've even seen a big difference just from last Wed when I

saw OS and today (Saturday). Each day it's getting better and

better. In fact by next week I think most all of the numbness will

be gone.

Remember though, each person is different so yours might be

different, but hopefully that gives you a idea of what to expect.

One of things my surgeon recommended was to let the hot water in the

shower hit my face. The hot water stimulates the blood vessels. I

will let the shower hit the face and then take a washcloth with hot

water and place it on face. I also lightly massaged my face. And

then about 3 weeks-4 weeks my surgeon recommend taking my hands and

make my face pucker up (sounds weird I know) and then take hands and

make the biggest smile you can. And about two weeks ago I started

trying to drink from bottled water (up till them I poured water or

Boost into cup to drink. That helped too I think. (I would

probably ask you surgeon first before doing some of these things).

I finally got the ok to chew this week (6 weeks post op) and am

finding that it's going to take a while to get this chewing down

again. I still am not to bite into food yet - to prevent to much

stress on joints.

Shirley

(Lefort 1 (upper), BSSO (lower), genio and turbinectomies 6/23/05)

[Guest guest]

It depends on what you had done, and I'm sorry that I cannot remember

your particulars. But if you had upper work, it isn't unusual to be

numb right up to your eyeballs, anyhow. And five days is a blink of an

eyelid in terms of recovery from numbness. It can take months -- or

even years, for that, as well as total recovery from swelling, although

that often abates before numbness.

And yes, the answer really is to talk with your doc. He or she is the

one who knows when something signals a closer look. But my guess is

that you shouldn't worry, and should try, if you can, to cultivate

patience. It's hard -- I still don't have any, and I am an alum, of

lower, anyhow, with no struggle against numbness -- but it's part of

these processes.

Cammie

> I'm day 5 post upper and lower, and the numbness I have all over my

> face really is astonishing. In fact, it seems to have actually

gotten

> a little worse over the last two days...I was expecting numb spots

> here and there, but the entire sides of my noses, along with my

entire

> cheek faces right up to my eyelids are completely numb...along with

> substantial numbness in my upper and lower lips, and chin. Imagine a

> plunger centered squarely over my nose...the entire circular area it

> would cover feels completely numb.

>

> Is this much numbness typical? Of course, of course, the correct

> answer is always ask your OS, which is what I plan on doing at my 1-

> week follow up in 2 days, but it never hurts to get some UNbiased

> feedback from fellow surgical patients.