I stopped posting updates for a few months because I moved along with my life. I now have a new legal name, the correct gender on both my driver license and SSN, and a new life. Dr DiMaggio made miracles. I don't need makeup or anything to be me.
I only have one lingering problem at the moment: half of my lower lip.
I get sensations when it is touched, but I also get small electric shocks. When I drink cold water, if there is anything going under my lip, it feels like I have an icecube in my mouth right under this part of bottom lip. When I exfoliate, I feel pain in my teeth, even if I am not pressing at all on the teeth and put my tongue inbetween - just from the scratching of my lip. When I dry my face with a towel after a hot shower, this half of my lip looks red - like flushed. When I clench my teeth, I feel as if something was pressing on this part of my lower lip - as if I was drinking from a straw.
All that is super weird. I only had filing of the chin. No implant, no sliding genioplasty. I will see Dr DiMaggio soon, he will tell if I have nerve damage or not.
Meanwhile I am wondering if any of you had symptoms like this, and how they evolved. Can you describe how it feels? I know I need more time to heal. I'm just curious of what I can realistically hope for.
I don't know if this will help, but when I had my nose done there was swelling and numbness for almost a year. Lifting the skin and working under it really messes the nerves up for a while. I would also be careful with anything hot on the sensitive area as the blood flow may not be up to carrying the heat away. Cold may not feel good but as long as it's not there for long enough to freeze the area, cold shouldn't be a problem. Soda straws might help when you are drinking. I went through a bunch of them with my voice surgery because they limited the flow of fluid in my mouth and allowed the fluid temperature to adjust closer to body temperature before I swallowed.
With my chin surgery, the titanium plate screwed to my new chin "settled." The bone mended some, but it also pulled some of my bottom teeth closer together because of the localized pressure. I had braces a long time ago, but I'll probably need a retainer at least to get the former straight bottoms teeth I had. It is somewhat subtle to the eye, but it hurt like an mfer while it was going on.
Long story short, massage the tissue frequently each day and it will probably help some. It's probably just that the nerves are sensitive while they're reattaching. If it persists past a year, I'd be surprised, but it could be a complication due to the surgery.
Hugs,
- Katie
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