I am not sure about the pros and cons of this in practical application. The Dr suggested I do both, and said it was most do, but I often feel numbness (if that makes sense). I almost perceive the lack of something to perceive. If anyone has any information or experiences, I would be most appreciative to hear them.
I’m a little confused. Does the doctor want to cut those nerves in conjunction with doing a styloidectomy or just to try to relieve your pain without doing anything about your elongated styloid(s)? It doesn’t seem like a normal part of a styloidectomy procedure. The greater auricular nerve has been mentioned in several posts which you can find by using the magnifying glass search tool in the upper right of this page & typing greater auricular nerve in the search box. One post mentions that the GAN was moved out of the way during surgery but not cut: Surgery with Mr Hughes London this Friday - #309 by PatientD
You can also search for posts discussing cutaneous nerves the same way. Here’s the link to one post that mentions the brachial cutaneous nerve was moved out of the way but not cut during surgery: Surgery Completed! - #10 by tokenegret
Hi, I would expect nerves to be monitored during surgery and to be moved to allow styloid to be cut/removed. I do not recommend you agree to any nerves being cut. Even if they are monitored while moved I had significant pain & some facial muscle weakness (droop mouth one side) & had to do facial physio work after surgery. My upper face (eg lifting eyebrows) was not affected, but they did test for that in recovery room. Take care. D
I may have read that Dr. Costantino also cuts the GAN but he apparently puts it back together as well at the end of surgery. Can anyone confirm this and why he does that?
Hi, yes I recall being asked to raise eyebrows and to smile in recovery after op. Was bit groggy so can’t recall if other requests too.
When I saw the facial physio they asked me to perform a extensive set of facial expressions as part of assessing facial damage symmetry issues and then set exercises to help fix them. Hope that helps. D
It was the same for me too, the surgeon came to the recovery room imdiate after i was woken up. Asked me to do all sorts of faces and smile. Asked me to pretend i was kissing someone.
And also asked me to sing
I was totally gone and sky high on meds and with one ice cream in each hand though