Can you kiss with a numb lip?

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#1 Post by **asd** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:51 pm

Im three months post op and my llower ip and chin are still completly numb, i asked my surgeon yesterday how long it could take for the feeling to come back and he said around 18 months im gutted

i didnt think it would be that long, im really worried now i wont be able to kiss and i wont be able to feel anything on my bottom lip it would be wierd

#2 Post by **phil** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:37 pm

asd,

Can you kiss...yes. Is it as much fun...well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion!

My kissing muscles work just fine. It just feels kinda strange!

#3 Post by **HighandLo** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:48 pm

asd,

Can you feel anything at all on your bottom lip? It did feel a little strange to kiss at first, but it's much better now. I'd say about back to normal, actually. It's good to think of it as physical therapy

.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

Lo

#4 Post by **Rach** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:50 am

Awww
Good question... yeh you probs wont beable to feel much if anything at all.
18 months is a pretty long time for the nubness to go away though so practicing might help to bring back feeling quicker

#5 Post by **iheartmypanda** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:04 am

I remember my boyfriend ccame to take care of me the week after jaw surgery and I kept kissing him on the cheek and hating it.
That was the worst part cause I didn't feel a thing!
I'm almost five months post op and I have a lot more feeling now and it's not as bad (we haven't kissed on the lips yet, waiting till engagement) but definetly not as enjoyable as before.
Patience. ugh.

#6 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:52 pm

I'm 4 months post op. I have one side of my lower lip that is pretty numb and one side that is very sensitive (pins and needles when touched) I can honestly say that I really do not like kissing at all anymore. I have control of my lip and can kiss just fine but feeling is non existent, or just plain unpleasant. Now I can tell you that things have improved a lot, for the first couple of months I could not feel anything at all in my lower lip when my husband would kiss me, and due to the swelling etc it just felt off. Now things have improved, swelling has gone down and my husband says that he feels like I'm actually kissing back (which I am) because I can sorta feel it now. BUT....with that being said, I do not enjoy it at all. The top lip can feel everything normally but the bottom is pretty much void of feeling in comparision to what it was. This had been particularly frustrating as my husband has always loved kissing my bottom lip (thought it as kindof pouty or something) and now it is just not the same. I did know this was a possibility when I had the surgery though so it was not a big surprise.

With all of that being said, I do believe that eventually I will get full feeling back in it. It seems that the return of feeling is working its way up from my chin and has been getting better and better every day, it is just sortof a waiting game at this point.

So....with that being said I just felt like I needed to be honest. Hope this helps you with your decision.

Brandy

#7 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:52 pm

Sorry, double posted!

#8 Post by **Emaciated** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:40 am

I'm sorry to dust off this old thread but I wanted to express what an issue this has been for me and for my wife. This isn't something you really think about before hand (at least I didn't). It was made clear to me that I'd be numb, etc. but I never even thought about having the act of kissing taken away for so long. Its a real bummer. I'm @ 4-weeks now and can barely feel her when she kisses me. If I didn't see her in front of me I would barely notice that I'm kissing anyone. When I try to kiss her stomach or neck or something I can barely tell when I make contact. It really sucks. I'm doing all the therapy "faces" and expressions and the feeling is gradually returning but this is probably the most frustrating element of this recovery.

#9 Post by **Ewok2000** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:53 pm

I'm almost 6 months post op and half my lower lip is still numb. I recently kissed someone and I didn't really notice my lip, when your in that moment your focus is on the other person not your partial numbness.

#10 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:58 pm

I'm with Karl on this one. I'm going on about 6 months and 3 weeks post op now and while feeling has been coming back in my lower lip, it is slow, and it still quite numb. If I lick my lip I can feel it, but I can still get water on the left side of it and not feel it. I still have trouble finding a straw with it, and overall it is far from normal. I definitely have more control over it now, it is not so much like dead and just there, I can move and manipulate it and be able to tell what I'm doing whereas before I could not.

Kissing is not very enjoyable, as I cannot feel it. I can feel it on my top lip, but not my lower one much, mostly I'm unable to find his lips unless I'm looking right at him. The feeling is coming back, and I'm sure I will get it all back in time, but even healing pretty quickly, the numbness lingers for a long time and I believe will take at least 15-18 months as the doctors have suggested to fully return.

In my opinion it does effect ones intimacy with their partner, as who wants to kiss lips, or someones neck etc, if you can barely tell when your touching skin, and then can't really feel much of anything once you do. It just sortof loses something. My husband is a big kisser and I find I kiss him, with more control over my lower lip now, but still can't really feel it. It is hard to be passionate, or enthralled with a kiss when for all intensive purposes you could just as well be kissing the wall. So....I agree, this is probably the hardest part of this surgery.

Brandy

#11 Post by **Angel21** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:37 pm

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if the numbness has healed yet and you can kiss properly again? This is one of the main thing's I worry about, and what your all saying isn't helping!

#12 Post by **Thathrill** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:09 pm

wow i remember this thread from a while back. this is something i am really worried about. i love to kiss and not being able to do something i love will be disheartening especially when i wouldn't be able to enjoy for a really long time. almost makes me want to consider the vertical ramus osteotomy and being wired shut for 6 weeks. lol

#13 Post by **amd** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:49 am

Yikes....okay....let's be honest how many of you actually told your spouses that you wouldn't be able to feel them kiss you or vise versa?

I think if I tell my hubby that I won't be able to feel him kiss me he'll freak. Knowing him...he'll take it personally - that I'm not interested. Crap. Not good.

Guess I better kiss him lots before hand.

The thought of not being able to feel the kisses on my youngest son though is more disheartening. He likes to suck my bottom lip! I'm really going to miss that.

#14 Post by **Emaciated** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:28 am

My daughter was 1 at the time of my surgery and it was hard not being able to feel kisses on her cheeks. But like everything, it eventually heals and you'll be back to normal in no time. It is a frustrating feeling at the time though.

#15 Post by **Angel21** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:48 pm

i love to kiss and not being able to do something i love will be disheartening especially when i wouldn't be able to enjoy for a really long time

Same here. I would hate to lose feeling in my lip, I mean if I was guaranteed the feeling would come back 100% the same then it wouldn't bother me as much. The idea of permanent numbness is a nightmare.

KarlClayLA wrote:But like everything, it eventually heals and you'll be back to normal in no time. It is a frustrating feeling at the time though.

So you did get the feeling back completey?

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Can you kiss with a numb lip?

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