Had ES surgery 6 weeks ago, pain in throat is mostly gone but I’m still having terrible pain in back of tongue on that one side. Appears to be a lump of some type. Went to oral surgeon who was not sure what it was and told me to go back to ENT to have it checked out. Anyone else have this issue
Hi ronowe,
You’re still in the somewhat early stages of post op recovery. The only thought I have on the tongue lump is that it’s possible your tongue muscle is slightly contracted toward the back due to possible slight nerve (hypoglossal or glossopharyngeal) irritation during surgery. That contraction could be “binding” up the nerve a little which in turn is causing your pain. If that’s the case, the nerve pain should diminish as your tongue flattens out as healing progresses. It can take from several months to a year for nerves to fully heal. That said, I do think it’s worthwhile seeing your ENT for an evaluation of your situation.
I base my information on my post-op experience w/ a half paralyzed tongue. It took about 9 months to recover. It wasn’t numb but the motor part of the right half of my tongue refused to work. I recently learned about some exercises I could have done that would have helped w/ quicker tongue recovery. I will send them to you via private email. Trying them may help you.
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Was it intraoral or external surgery? Did they remove calcified ligament ?
I had the same thing, same feeling (in addition to other symptoms) after my oral surgery. but my dr just told me at my 2nd surgery on Tuesday (same side but external this time) that I had a strong/tight band of scar tissue and that only time would stretch that. It does feel it’s back of the tongue. He also said it could have been the ligament balling up that he didn’t get fully the first surgery.
When to another ENT who felt my bump was related to swelling form surgery. Hope that’s correct. He also has lots of experience with ES and told me the recovery can often be months long.
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Was I intraoral?
external surgery