Experiences with scalp numbness and recovery?

[R R H]

We've got a couple of threads on a similar theme: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,217349.0.html
Just saying

FFS two weeks ago (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,216392.0.html) and I'm certainly very numb on the top of my head and down the sides. My forehead isn't numb at all.

The tip of my nose is tender rather than numb.

I'll keep you updated on here on how feeling returns, if it does!

[Debra]

6 weeks , still numb! haha. Forehead is slowly coming back though.

[Alyssa M.]

We've got a couple of threads on a similar theme: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,217349.0.html
Just saying

Yup, I started this one first, and that inspired anjaq to start that thread on the slightly different subject of long-term results rather than what it feels like during recovery.

Latest update: I has been about ten weeks now, and I am starting to feel scratching, especially right in the middle of my head in a narrow area, maybe an inch wide, extending back from the incision several inches — basically the very top of my head. The periphery of the numb area, especially along the incision, still feels a little sore and slightly sensitive to the touch, but not usually noticeable. I'm starting to feel a little bit of pain when I dig in with my fingernails in the area where I don't feel scratching as much — the periphery, especially not at the incision.

There's not to much in the way of itching, especially since I can deal with it when it comes up by lightly massaging the points at the top of my forehead where the nerves were severed, or just tapping all over the numb area. Overall I would say about 5-10% of the feeling I lost has returned. Gently tapping with my fingertips, like you might do on a desk as a nervous habit or when you're bored, seems to help "retrain" the nerves.

As for everywhere else, I'm still completely normal feeling in my forehead, still a bit of puffiness in my chin on the part that faces out, just below the bottom of my gums. The bones that got worked on (brow, chin, jaw) feel a little sore to the touch, especially my chin, but that's not a big deal and getting better.

The only other annoying thing is how the incisions are healing. The hairline incision looks great, but the underlying tissue is a little bumpy, as expected. The incision for the chin work (inside my lower lip, near the bottom of my gums) I can still feel with my tongue and it reduces the flexibility of my lips a little, like when I make a funny "Dana Carvey as the church lady being skeptical" or "unimpressed McKayla Maroney" face. The cheek incisions (for the jaw work) are also noticeable, but much less so.

That's it for now. Feeling pretty good about it overall.

[Alyssa M.]

So updating again ... three months since surgery.

I basically have feeling in my scalp, but not 100%. I can feel everything from a gentle touch to firm tap to piercing pain, and it's pretty uniform over the area that was initially numb. It's just kind of fuzzy and not as intense as elsewhere, and I would definitely not call it satisfactory. But for just three months, it's pretty encouraging. I can still find the raw ends of the supraorbital nerves along the incision, but there's not really any significant itching or shooting or anything like that anymore.

Other than the scalp numbness, the hairline incisions is healing well, basically smooth on the surface. I had a little pimple that presented itself, but otherwise it's totally normal on the surface. Below the surface, it's still bumpy, so you can definitely notice it.

My chin is still a bit swollen and the chin incision (inside the mouth) is still a bit annoying, but it doesn't affect any daily activities, like eating. I just have to work a tiny bit harder to get food stuck in front of my lower teeth, and I can feel it with the Church Lady / McKayla Maroney face. The cheek incisions (for the contouring at the back of the mandible, below the temporo-mandibular joint) are still raised and a little weird, but otherwise feel normal.

That's it for now.

[Alyssa M.]

Okay, another update, now four months since surgery — I'll probably update again at maybe 6, 9, and 12 months or something like that.

I'll start with the issues not related to numbness:

I'm now at the point where all the bones should be healed completely, and it feels that way pretty much. There's a tiny bit of tenderness if I push on the parts of my chin and jaw that were contoured, and just *barely* on my brow area. There's still a bit of swelling on the front of the chin and tenderness if I poke at it. I can definitely still feel the scars on the inside of my mouth. The cheeks are totally not something I notice unless I try to, but the lower lip incision is still a little annoying, and kind of pulls a bit if I make faces (or, say, get some food stuck there and try to move it with my tongue).

The forehead scar is almost unnoticeable when you look at it — just a touch bumpy, not on the surface, but under the skin. There are a couple parts that are a bit more noticeable, but just barely. For a bit I got some pimples associated with the scar line which I guess is a thing, and that's done now. Most were in the area hidden by the hair. I probably wouldn't do well with a shaved head, but the part in front of the hairline is pretty much unnoticeable at this point, even if I pull my hair back — of course, there are some short hairs, ones that got cut in the surgery, which is a little annoying.

Okay, as for the numbness:

I would say that it's going quite well. I still notice it if I pay attention, but I'm not getting weird shooting feelings or whatever anymore. I can feel heat and cold and sharp pokes and gentle touch just fine, but definitely not 100%. Soft touch especially still feels off, kind of a bit like an electric spark that radiates out from the place where I touch my scalp. There's still a little itching, but it's easy to sooth by scratching the actual place that itches, not the raw nerve ending that was severed in the surgery.

For an overall scorecard, I would say the numbness is about 50% recovered. Forehead scar, maybe 75%. Forehead itself, 100%. Oral incisions, 60%. Chin, 85%. Jawline, 100%.

A fun little thing happened today at church. A woman I've known for many years came up to me during coffee hour and told me that I was just looking more and more beautiful every time she sees me, and she didn't know what I'm doing, but it's working. I just smiled and said thank you. Of course what I was thinking was, "Yeah, tens of thousands of dollars of plastic surgery — it had better be working!" (Also being back on HRT after being off for a while helps a lot too.)

[Cara_DarkCloud]

Its 13 months and most of the numbness has gone from the scalp area some areas are still a little less sensitive but that seems to be improving each month. Forehead sensitivity also returned but some areas you can feel but not to the extent you could previously on the one side and the other seems to be back to normal. Strangely the side that's less sensitive eyebrow plucking really hurts while on the other side no big deal. The scar through the hairline has also gone down a lot in the last 3 months and more hair starting to grow in the area.