I am 15 days post op and am having nerve pain in temple area - sensitive to the touch. Please advise if you know anything about this or have any advise. Thanks
Hi, 13 days post op and my jaw line on the operated side is very tender when I touch it. It’s like when I touch my jaw bone I feel like it’s a giant bruise. But it doesn’t hurt without being touched. Does yours hurt on its own? Did your surgeon go all the way to the skull? Mine did not.
I have that too, sometimes it hurts just being there. Everyday the numb area seams to be getting smaller. My surgeon did go all the way to the skull base. Removed 55mm!
The pain I am talking about is electrical/nerve pain. It frightens me. I have a call into the Dr.
Ok no I don’t have that. Good job letting the surgeon know. I bet he’ll have some reassuring news. My pal that’s a nurse just told me swelling after surgery is part of the healing process so don’t look at it as a bad thing. I hope the same goes for you with perhaps some nerve regeneration but reaching out to the surgeon is the best call. Let is know what he says.
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PS - 5.5 cm, that’s a beast! Did not belong there!!!
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sjlash-
Unfortunately, nerves fire crazily when healing. You may experience similar pain in different areas of your neck, face, ear…as you heal from surgery. This can go on for several months as the nerves regenerate. They seem to need to “let you know” they’re still there. If this process gets too uncomfy, there are meds (actually, anti-seizure meds) that can be prescribed to help w/ the pain i.e. neurontin, amitryptiline, gabapentin, etc.
I second SewMomma’s thoughts that a call to the surgeon’s ofc won’t hurt & could be very helpful.
Hoping this phase of healing doesn’t last too long for you!
Thank you! That is reassuring. Sadly no call back from Dr.
Isaiah - how did you deal with the pain? I find it immobilizes me with fear. The side side effects of Gabapentin were rough, but this is bad.
I had more shooting pains than ones that persisted (as I recall…it’s been 4+ years). My surgeon was willing to prescribe neurontin, but I decided I’d taken enough drugs w/ side effects post op (prednisone & Percocet) that I didn’t want another one. I took Percocet for about a month post op - not on a regular schedule but if I had a more “sore” day then I’d take a half or a whole one to carry me through. It was worth it because it did take the edge off the intensity of the pain & sometimes eradicated it entirely.
I had heard that nerve regeneration could be painful so I kind of anticipated it. As stupid as this may sound, embrace the pain. Don’t fear it. Know that it’s your body doing its best to recover & get you back on your feet ASAP. By embrace, I don’t mean you have to be happy about it, but do face it as a positive thing not a negative one.
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You are priceless, and appreciated.
Also wondering- did your pain move around daily or was it the same? I seam to have different pain on different days.
So glad to be able to help!
My pain totally moved around. It did hang out in some of the same places over several days but moved around, too. Some days were way worse than others. When I’d have a few good days, I’d think I was finally over the hurdle, then I’d have a bad day & feel like “Here we go again…” The good days will become more frequent than the bad. I PROMISE!
Recovery from ES surgery is a game of patience. I noticed big, positive changes by the end of a month & felt pretty doggone good by the end of 2 months. I know that’s still a bit in the distance for you. The best advice I can give is listen to your body. If you’re having a tough day, then that’s a day to lay low & take care of you. If you have some good days, be careful initially not to overdo. I was very anxious to get back to living my life as it was before ES & pushed myself too hard on the good days, but then paid for it by falling back into pain for a couple of days afterward.
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You are a gift Isiah, a wonderful moderator and helper. I was just feeling bad about my mega-tongue today and my nurse friend said swelling is a good thing the body does to heal itself. Embrace is a wonderful word you used. That word was used by a nurse when I was crying about our baby getting a feeding tube put in her stomach for heart and lung problems. But I digress. The nerve pain sounds hard. I just can’t have the Moe’s burrito I’ve been craving for over a year now and I spit on my daughter tonight when I tried to say “shhh” to her during prayer 
. Sjlash, it looks like you and I will have the month of March to look forward to together 
You are very kind, SewMomma & sjlash. I want to help people who are struggling as I struggled so their journeys, even though different, may be less arduous, at least emotionally.
Swelling does serve an important purpose in healing. It protects the areas the body sees as wounded by surrounding them w/ a “pillow” of sorts. While the “pillow” is in place, the body is working tirelessly to mend the “broken part”. When it feels the broken part is satisfactorily repaired then the body begins to re-absorb that protective cushion allowing the repaired area to start functioning more normally again. You must remember though that new repairs can be fragile & easily re-injured so use w/ caution early on. Allow strength to build over time.
Hope the pain does settle down soon; it can be scary at times with the nerves as they heal, it’s like the First Bite Syndrome lots of people get after surgery, weird, painful but it goes over time.
Best wishes!
A pillow!!! How lovely! I could be a case study on the power of the mind. I just ate the same thing for lunch today that I did yesterday…totally different level of enjoyment. I embraced my method of inserting my finger in my mouth to get food over to the left when it migrates right. I didn’t overthink it. I just ate my lunch and moved on with my day. 
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So the Dr.'s office called back - 27 hours later. They said they are surprised I am having this much pain after two weeks and thought unrelated to my surgery. Suggested some gentle neck stretching - I am not kidding. Also asked if I wanted Neurontin. . . They might be able to prescribe.
Glad you enjoyed your lunch:)
Unrelated to surgery - that’s a pretty weak response. It’s plain common sense that it’s very likely the result of the meeting your neck had with a scalpel! I’ll let other people add something more helpful. You’re still your own best advocate even after surgery.
AWESOME! Eating does become somewhat of a game when half your tongue doesn’t work! I love that you’re embracing the process & enjoying your meals more. Embrace is a good word for many applications & can help us to keep a positive mindset in negative circumstances! 
Clearly the people in your doctor’s ofc have not endured the type of surgery you just had for ES. They have no comprehension of how nerves that have been irritated & moved around during the surgical process respond to that sort of “negative stimulus” & subsequently the effort (& pain) required for the nerves to recover. Nerve recovery is general slow but thankfully it does happen.
It might be worthwhile for you to try Neurontin if your regular pain meds aren’t helping. Keeping pain at bay does help expedite recovery because your brain/body can focus on healing more effectively instead of on battling pain.
How are you doing on pain sjlash? We both have our follow-ups next week, scar buddy