I will be 2 weeks post op on Friday. Some post op pain I had in the beginning (sore throat, limited jaw opening, popping sound in my ear on the side of surgery) are gone now. But I still have some lingering pain that I don't think I noticed in the beginning. I was wondering if anyone experienced the same thing- new pain replacing the original post-op pain?
Right now I have a lot of muscle tightness near the incision. It seems like it might be my sternocleidomastoid muscle?? Hard to say when there are so many muscles in the neck. It feels VERY tender and I a bit swollen in that area. The other thing I am still experiencing is jaw discomfort. When I open my mouth to eat I get a pain in a weird area...almost where it seems my styloid would be. I never had any pain upon eating before surgery. I can't tell if it's my jaw or irritation around where the bone was cut. The best way to describe where it is, is behind the arch way in the back of my mouth, but the pain is deeper into the neck area if any of that makes sense. Last week it hurt in that same spot when I would yawn but that's settled down a bit and it's not nearly as bad.
I should say that I had both my left styloid out as well as a portion of the hyoid bone.
So far it's difficult to tell if there have been any improvements in original symptoms because I am still experiencing some post-op discomfort and I'm sure there's swelling going on. I can't wait for the pain to subside so I can see what symptoms may have decreased!!
Please give it some more time. I had my surgery on the 7th...still have a bit of swelling and tenderness. My doctor said to give it a good month....which was true with my first surgery in last April. Hopefully as the swelling subsides, you pain will also. Hang in there!
Totally normal….! I think you're good! It was hard to chew or grind normal food, or open my mouth enough for a toothbrush for about 2 weeks. 3rd week I still had some jaw pain at certain movements. Coming up on week 4 the jaw is almost normal. I am almost 4 wks post surgery and it's still hard to tell on symptoms as some seem to be muscle-tightening related. Yes, that area will get really tight; it's a little bit of a battle and I have work around the incision to keep it loose.
I wound up wearing a small heating pad/blanket under a soft neck brace (just keeps it in place while I'm working on the computer). Then when the neck is nice and warm, I would remove the heating pad and it's easier to loosen the muscles up. Don't get all 'type A' and really stretch hard, because the muscles will repay you by over tightening the next day or two, and that sucks (ask me how I know lol).
I wound up with a little oil (some organic body oil by 'alba' I think from Walmart) just on the fingertips to get under the chin and below the incision. I wouldn't use that stuff near the incision, as you are not fully healed up yet. I start at the attachment of the muscles and just press the area (I do this near the SCM attachment aft of the jaw where it's sore, and below the ear where it's probably like a hard little area for you) and hold. The fingers will sort of 'sink' in after about 15-30 seconds. That has helped me. I also got the collarbone upwards to the chin and the top of the shoulder on the surgery side.
I noticed I was 'scrunching' my shoulder up in a protective way after surgery, and it still takes me consciously thinking about it to drop that shoulder back down. I don't have pain when opening the mouth or grinding food anymore...just some 'zings' under my chin from the nerve that was stretched as it wakes back up, but those are short little bursts every other day or so.
Thanks Tee for your advice!! It’s reassuring to know these post op symptoms are normal!! I’m glad to hear you are starting to feel better. I had to laugh when you said “don’t get all type A” lol. That’s me all the way!!! Not a good thing when you are healing from surgery!! I have a VERY active 3 year old son who is eager to have his mommy feeling better so I can be active with him again. It puts more pressure on me to feel better.
Did you have the external or intra oral surgery? Did you find ice to be helpful? I have used heat on my jaw to loosen the muscles a bit but I’m worried that heat will cause more swelling and inflammation. It’s freezing where I live so ice does not seem appealing but I feel like I should try harder to ice the area throughout the day to help swelling.
I had external. I am totally 'overdo everything to the extreme', too. If I learn a sport, I start thinking I better learn it super good in case I compete in it one day. It's ridiculous. :)
I did not use ice only because after surgery, I found the weight of it to be too uncomfortable on the swelling. So I used it maybe 4-5 times, and not for long. I was bad about that. I am not sure what the time is where it's best to do heat…I started when the muscles started clamping down on me before the 2 week mark.
To get swelling down, generally ice is the thing to use. I really didn't use it, and didn't get instructions to use it, either. I know others were good about it, though. You may want to ask your doc about heat and loosening muscles; that's something his nurse can even answer, I bet. I probably started that too early, but muscle tightening in the neck is a problem with me regardless of ES, and surgery certainly initiates its own muscle tightening due to the muscles needing to be stretched and separated for surgery.
I, too, am prone to muscle tightness. My left side (the side I got my styloid removed) is bad because a chiropractor hurt my neck and my muscles on that side have never been the same. Hopefully they loosen up!!!
Thanks again for the advice. I guess we all need to wait it out after surgery and give ourselves time to heal regardless of our plan to bounce right back!!
Tee said:
I had external. I am totally ‘overdo everything to the extreme’, too. If I learn a sport, I start thinking I better learn it super good in case I compete in it one day. It’s ridiculous.
I did not use ice only because after surgery, I found the weight of it to be too uncomfortable on the swelling. So I used it maybe 4-5 times, and not for long. I was bad about that. I am not sure what the time is where it’s best to do heat…I started when the muscles started clamping down on me before the 2 week mark.
To get swelling down, generally ice is the thing to use. I really didn’t use it, and didn’t get instructions to use it, either. I know others were good about it, though. You may want to ask your doc about heat and loosening muscles; that’s something his nurse can even answer, I bet. I probably started that too early, but muscle tightening in the neck is a problem with me regardless of ES, and surgery certainly initiates its own muscle tightening due to the muscles needing to be stretched and separated for surgery.
