I had my right styloid process taken care of intra orally in May and recovered after 3 weeks. My left side was done at the end of June and I felt good after 2 weeks. Today, I suddenly have a terrible ache in my left jaw. It feels like it was never fixed. Did anyone else have this happen?
My ENT told me the second surgery is much more painful during recovery and slower to heal. He said he's not sure why this is. It is possible that you are experiencing pain as your nerves begin to regrow and recover from the damage they experienced during surgery. It may be that the nerve recovery has taken a couple of weeks to start.
I was almost healed from my first surgery (last Nov.) when I had a bike accident w/ a head injury in May. All the jaw pain, face pain & first bite syndrome symptoms I had spent 6 months recovering from are back (I don't recommend falling off my bike & landing on my face...). I am confident the nerves will heal again but am sad that I'm having to go through the discomfort a second time. My second surgery was postponed from May to the end of August (also a sore point but better to be all the way healed from the bike wreck).
Stick with your regular pain meds schedule on the days you feel pain as you'll heal faster if you aren't fighting pain. Spread them out on the days you feel better. Make sure you lie down w/ your head elevated significantly when you rest or sleep as this will naturally help reduce inflammation in your neck, jaw & throat. Use ice on your surgical area/neck - 15-20 min. on & 40-45 min. off for several hours each day. All of these things should help. If not, talk to your doctor and ask for recommendations for helping with nerve pain.
I hope your pain is short lived and that if it's really terrible, you're able to find a simple solution.
I'm sending prayers up for you.
I have felt quite up and down with the recovery from 1st op, but it's often if I've overdone things or done something I shouldn't... it's over 3 months now and went to lift something yesterday which was a bit heavy, and felt the pain again, so all is still healing. Hope that it soon goes, Lola.
I think Isaiah and Jules both gave good advice. Internal surgeries usually have more painful recoveries, so I don't think this is anything to really worry about just yet. Baby yourself for a while yet and take any meds that the doctors gave you. Nerves take a frustratingly long time to heal. And they don't heal on a regular downward slope. They go up and down, which is incredibly hard to take and understand when you're going through it. If you want to call the doctor's office, they may be able to give you advice and possibly medications that may help more. But I don't think this is anything very unusual, so try not to worry too much. I know that's easier said than done.
Thanks for your reply and advice. I actually did lay down yesterday for about 2.5 hours. I rested, read and even napped! Previous to the aching….I vacuumed. Perhaps that is what triggered the nerve pain. Not taking the pain medication that my doctor gave me due to adverse reactions, so I use extra strength Tylenol. I hope today will prove to be better.
Isaiah 40:31 said:
My ENT told me the second surgery is much more painful during recovery and slower to heal. He said he's not sure why this is. It is possible that you are experiencing pain as your nerves begin to regrow and recover from the damage they experienced during surgery. It may be that the nerve recovery has taken a couple of weeks to start.
I was almost healed from my first surgery (last Nov.) when I had a bike accident w/ a head injury in May. All the jaw pain, face pain & first bite syndrome symptoms I had spent 6 months recovering from are back (I don't recommend falling off your bike & landing on your face...). I am confident the nerves will heal again but am sad that I'm having to go through the discomfort a second time. My second surgery was postponed from May to the end of August (also a sore point but better to be all the way healed from the bike wreck).
Stick with your regular pain meds schedule on the days you feel pain as you'll heal faster if you aren't fighting pain. Spread them out on the days you feel better. Make sure you lie down w/ your head elevated significantly when you rest or sleep as this will naturally help reduce inflammation in your neck, jaw & throat. Use ice on your surgical area/neck - 15-20 min. on & 40-45 min. off for several hours each day. All of these things should help. If not, talk to your doctor and ask for recommendations for helping with nerve pain.
I hope your pain is short lived and that if it's really terrible, you're able to find a simple solution.
I'm sending prayers up for you.
Yep…I did some housework yesterday which most likely triggered the aching feelings. Taking it easy today.
Jules said:
I have felt quite up and down with the recovery from 1st op, but it's often if I've overdone things or done something I shouldn't... it's over 3 months now and went to lift something yesterday which was a bit heavy, and felt the pain again, so all is still healing. Hope that it soon goes, Lola.
Thanks for your reply. Taking it one day at a time. Resting and taking some extra strength Tylenol as needed.
heidemt said:
I think Isaiah and Jules both gave good advice. Internal surgeries usually have more painful recoveries, so I don't think this is anything to really worry about just yet. Baby yourself for a while yet and take any meds that the doctors gave you. Nerves take a frustratingly long time to heal. And they don't heal on a regular downward slope. They go up and down, which is incredibly hard to take and understand when you're going through it. If you want to call the doctor's office, they may be able to give you advice and possibly medications that may help more. But I don't think this is anything very unusual, so try not to worry too much. I know that's easier said than done.
Don't feel bad....I over did it just recently doing trim for painting on our ceiling. My surgery was June 03. My pains have pretty much all returned. I think even docs don't know how to council people after having this surgery. You really need to be told not to strain your neck for quite some time (even though you may feel pretty good.)
I think 12 weeks of no strain to the neck should be recommended.
Definitely no working above your head!! It wouldn't hurt for an ice pack to the neck 20 mins a day for at least 6 weeks.
The reality is we don't know what is going on in there after the surgery! This is a tricky area!
Ivy, I agree with you- I didn't get much advice about what to do/ not to do post-op- just to take it easy for 10 days! Like I said (but my maths was wrong, it's not as long as I thought!) nearly 3 months and I still have to be careful not to lift too much, or carry anything that side. Isaiah 40:31 had better advice from her doc.
Feeling a lot better today! Of course it is still early in the morning. Lifting, pushing, pulling, etc seem to trigger pain. So…no housework for awhile.
Ivy said:
Don't feel bad....I over did it just recently doing trim for painting on our ceiling. My surgery was June 03. My pains have pretty much all returned. I think even docs don't know how to council people after having this surgery. You really need to be told not to strain your neck for quite some time (even though you may feel pretty good.)
I think 12 weeks of no strain to the neck should be recommended.
Definitely no working above your head!! It wouldn't hurt for an ice pack to the neck 20 mins a day for at least 6 weeks.
The reality is we don't know what is going on in there after the surgery! This is a tricky area!
It has been over two months since I had my right side done and that side doesn't seem to bother me. Only 3.5 weeks since left side was done and that side is definitely more sensitive to activities such as housework and gardening.
Jules said:
Ivy, I agree with you- I didn't get much advice about what to do/ not to do post-op- just to take it easy for 10 days! Like I said (but my maths was wrong, it's not as long as I thought!) nearly 3 months and I still have to be careful not to lift too much, or carry anything that side. Isaiah 40:31 had better advice from her doc.
It might be that nerves had to be moved a little out the way, or that the left side was pressing on a nerve, and that's why it's playing up more. What a shame, no housework!!
I look forward to post op visit this Friday. I still have that nagging ache in the left side. I am so disappointed because I expected the pain to be gone just as it was after surgery on the right side. I have to wonder if maybe nerves are involved and wonder how long this problem will last.
Jules said:
It might be that nerves had to be moved a little out the way, or that the left side was pressing on a nerve, and that's why it's playing up more. What a shame, no housework!!
I’m going to have ES surgery in 2 weeks, I can’t wait because pain is not manageble anymore, just in God and my Surgeon’ s hand
I had some pain that lingered also. Then I aggravated it by painting my ceiling 6 weeks after surgery! Had to do ice packs alternating with heat. Pain is subsiding. My suggestion would be to apply Ice on the side oh your neck 20 mins at a time for awhile. Keep the inflammation down so the nerves can heal. Mine Hurt worse than pre surgery!
That is a good idea…ice and then heat. I wonder….did you ever have a taste in your mouth after surgery that was strange? I taste what pencil shavings smell like. Weird or what?
Ivy said:
I had some pain that lingered also. Then I aggravated it by painting my ceiling 6 weeks after surgery! Had to do ice packs alternating with heat. Pain is subsiding. My suggestion would be to apply Ice on the side oh your neck 20 mins at a time for awhile. Keep the inflammation down so the nerves can heal. Mine Hurt worse than pre surgery!
Good luck. What type of procedure are you having? I have a good surgeon, too.
cuca21 said:
I'm going to have ES surgery in 2 weeks, I can't wait because pain is not manageble anymore, just in God and my Surgeon' s hand
Nope…no strange taste!
Lola said:
That is a good idea…ice and then heat. I wonder….did you ever have a taste in your mouth after surgery that was strange? I taste what pencil shavings smell like. Weird or what?
Ivy said:I had some pain that lingered also. Then I aggravated it by painting my ceiling 6 weeks after surgery! Had to do ice packs alternating with heat. Pain is subsiding. My suggestion would be to apply Ice on the side oh your neck 20 mins at a time for awhile. Keep the inflammation down so the nerves can heal. Mine Hurt worse than pre surgery!
I’m just wondering if anybody suffering from ES feels bad sore throat like infection or a wound feeling plus all the other symptoms, please, let me know
It's not uncommon to have glossopharyngeal neuralgia as one of the side effects from Eagles, which can in part feel like a really bad sore throat. Google it and see if that fits your pain. GN is one of the first things I had.
Also, about 2 years ago or so one of the members of the forum conducted a survery where a bunch of us identified the various symptoms we had. I know it's been discussed more recently too - so you may be able to do a search and find it. There are all kinds of symptoms that seems to be associated with Eagles - some fairly common for most of us, and some not common at all. The styloids grow different lengths, widths, and directions, so different nerves are disturbed and all kinds of different symptoms occur.
cuca21 said:
I'm just wondering if anybody suffering from ES feels bad sore throat like infection or a wound feeling plus all the other symptoms, please, let me know