Stiffness in chin - just like the nerve is stretched

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#1 Post by **uoft28** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 6:20 am

Does anyone have a feeling that your nerve underneath your chin is stretched? Like when you try to give a big smile and there is resistance of your chin? Or when you talk for a while and your whole chin begins to tingle and becomes stiff? These symptoms I feel come and go. Sometimes I have several days when I don't feel them, and then, out of the blue, there they are again.

I've had upper and bsso (lower jaw advancement) with genio. And i had it done about 6 and a half weeks ago.

If you happen to have had these symptoms in the past, did it go away, or at least subside over time? How long did it take?

#2 Post by **descantus** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:32 am

I'm only 8 weeks since surgery myself so cannot help you on the long term question, but my surgeon told me that it's totally normal to get bizarre nerve feelings for some time after surgery - he's told me not to worry about anything in the first 6 months and to expect it to take a year to fully disappear.

I keep grabbing at the numb area on my chin as it feels as though a lock of hair is brushing up against it, but there's never anything there. I also get the feeling of hair brushing against that spot when I run my finger over it. So weird

#3 Post by **OzzysMom** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 4:14 pm

Those feelings are going to come and go...that's just part of the healing process.
It's totally normal and don't be surprised if you feel it a lot for the first 6 months. After a year, most of it should be gone but I'm 19 months post-op and still have times when I think I feel something wet on my chin but there's nothing there. It happens less and less but everyone's surgery is a bit different and since we all heal at a different rate, just accept that feeling that way for awhile is a normal part of the process. And if it goes away quicker, all the better

#4 Post by **uoft28** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:10 am

Ozzymom and Descantus, thanks for the reply.

From what I found out on the internet, virtually every bsso leaves the patient with a stretched nerve. And I can definitely feel it in my case even in the slightest stretching of my chin, that the nerve is indeed stretched.

Also, for the past 10 days, I have been having some feeling back on the left side of my chin and lower lip. But its not pleasant or normal sensation at all, the left side of my chin and lip just tingles (more like the sensation of pins and needles) when I touch the area. It is not pleasant sensation, but I recognize the slow improvement every day.

Ozzymom, did you have these pins and needles sensations occurring when you touched your chin and lip when you first started to get feeling back to the area too?

Thanks and great recovery to you guys

#5 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:43 pm

uoft28 wrote:Ozzymom and Descantus, thanks for the reply.

From what I found out on the internet, virtually every bsso leaves the patient with a stretched nerve. And I can definitely feel it in my case even in the slightest stretching of my chin, that the nerve is indeed stretched.

Also, for the past 10 days, I have been having some feeling back on the left side of my chin and lower lip. But its not pleasant or normal sensation at all, the left side of my chin and lip just tingles (more like the sensation of pins and needles) when I touch the area. It is not pleasant sensation, but I recognize the slow improvement every day.

Ozzymom, did you have these pins and needles sensations occurring when you touched your chin and lip when you first started to get feeling back to the area too?

Thanks and great recovery to you guys

I'll let Ozzymon answer too of course- but I had the pins and needles sensation for a while once the feeling started to return. I also got a feeling when I had a cold drink of a 'seeping' through my chin, which I actually thought was very cool!

I'm actually at a plateau with my feeling now; no tingles, just the same half-numbess. I hope the feeling returns, but obviously it's a case of wait and see.

#6 Post by **OzzysMom** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:16 pm

Yes, I did have those feelings both when I touched it and when I didn't. I also went through a long phase of hyper-sensitivity where although it was numb, it was also hyper-sensitive to the touch...I know that doesn't sound like it makes any sense but that is what happened with me.
Right now, I do have feeling everywhere but the lower jaw/chin area has some numbness. Occasionally, I'll start getting strong tingles again for a few days, then more feeling returns.

#7 Post by **uoft28** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:12 pm

Thanks crazybeautiful. You've mentioned the "half-numbness" that you're currently feeling...does it feel much better now, than at 6-8 weeks post-op, though? I mean, could you live with this feeling for the rest of your life? Are you able to kiss better, at least?

Ozzysmom, thanks again...hope you get more and more of that normal feeling back

#8 Post by **contender** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:54 pm

I got surgery roughly six months ago and I suffered with a lot of that. I wondered if it would ever go away and it really does get better. I still have some pain in my jaw (popping zits, never gonna happen OUCH) but talking and smiling get a lot easier!

#9 Post by **uoft28** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:40 am

Just a quick update so I can remember the progress of my healing nerve later on (and to serve as reference to others out there).

I am now 11 weeks post-op and had the feeling of severe tingling in my chin and lower lip lessened a lot. The stiffness also subsided over the past few weeks (although I occasionally feel that rather intensely - like today for instance).

Feeling on the left side of my chin and lip is 90%, I'd say (although I still have a sort of hypersensitivity there - shaving feels very funny still). On the right side of the area feeling has been slowly coming back for the past 3 weeks or so. It is starting to get a little tingly to the touch, although still faintly.

Chewing is still somewhat awkward on the left side - right side is fine. Smiling is getting easier, and talking too (but as noted above, the stiff feeling still interfere with those actions occasionally).

I can open my mouth to accomodate a little more than 2 fingers.

#10 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 1:43 pm

Just an update for myself- the feeling in my chin seems to alternate between better and worse lately. Currently it is worse; my chin just feels plastic and dead (though not technically because it is not completely without sensation). When it is 'better' it tickles when I stroke it

My lip just seems to stay the same, though. I don't really have feeling on the surface, but somewhere underneath