Just wanted to update you on my surgery yesterday. I had a right styloidectomy with Dr. Cognetti yesterday. His staff and team were wonderful from start to finish. Dr. Cognetti is a really nice person and made me feel really comfortable. Surgery went smoothly and so far the pain is not terrible. Yesterday was the worst of it and I was on some pretty strong pain meds. I wasn’t able to eat or swallow much but today I’m feeling much better! I’m only taking Tylenol for the pain and I was able to eat solid foods. I feel a bit swollen still but that was to be expected. The wedge pillow and ice have been a huge help. I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress but so far so good! The support on this forum has been a godsend.
You look really terrific so soon after surgery, MVO!! I’m so thankful your experience w/ Dr. Cognetti was great. I hope your pain stays low & your recovery is speedy. Days 3-5 after surgery is when the swelling is the worst, but recently, it seems less of our members are struggling w/ that so perhaps surgical procedures have been improved since I had my ES surgeries in 2041/2015. I think you also have the advantage of youth. I was 58 when I had my surgeries & think my healing was a little slower because of my age.
I’m looking forward to hearing how your healing progresses. I’ll be praying for your safe travels home.
That’s great news, so pleased that you’re feeling okay so far. There will be downs as well as ups, so prepare for that, but glad it’s gone well for you
Hi everyone! So far so good! Pain is pretty minimal and I am able to eat pretty much like normal. I am a bit concerned as to how numb my jaw and neck are. Did you guys experience the same thing? How long did it take for the numbness to go down? @Isaiah_40_31@Jules
I’m really glad you’re doing so well this soon after surgery. That is AWESOME!!
Numbness at this stage of healing is normal. It can last for several months & sometimes doesn’t go away completely. You’ll also notice as those areas start “waking up” that it may be uncomfy sometimes. You can get pain, tingling, or burning in those areas. I also had the sensation of cooling, as in my jaw felt cold, but when I touched it it was warm. It was very odd.
If you do have residual numbness, you’ll find that you really don’t notice it later. I still have some numbness along my jawline & on my neck near my incision scars. It doesn’t bother me at all now.
Glad that your pain is okay & you can eat well! That’s brilliant!
Yes, my jaw was pretty numb, & all up my ear, not my neck though. It went gradually over time, I’m just with a little patch each side. Nerves can get stretched a bit during surgery- they should be monitored to make sure they’re not under too much stress, but numbness is very common for a bit. As Isaiah says you can get weird sensations as the nerves start to recover!
Take it easy & hope that you keep healing well
Your pix can be a poster child for what it looks like after surgery! You look great.
I had alot of numbness too and it seemed to retreat by week 12 slowly in small increments. I think they might inject a long acting numbing medication during surgery to help with the pain and that begins to wear off 3-5 days out. They mess with alot of nerves in there and it takes a while for all the numbness to go away.
I still have some lingering numbness though almost a year out. I have found after the last surgery, I sought out some acupuncture about a month after surgery. She hooked up a tens unit (electrical stimulation) to the needles. I had never seen that done before. I was very surprised how much it helped and continued to get it. It seemed to help stimulate the nerves.
Thank you all for that. Makes me feel much better to hear that. I just started having a bit of first bite Syndrome yesterday which was day 5. Sounds about right according to other patient’s surgery stories. Like a pucker feeling almost in the first through third bites of a meal, especially one with a lot of flavor. Makes me sad because I am a huge foodie.
@MVO first bite also started for me on day four or five. I’m four weeks out today and it is improving, slowly. It’s less intense than it was when it first started. Drinking a lot of water seems to help mine. Hang in there!
I totally agree w/ blossom that drinking a lot of water & staying really hydrated helps reduce FBS intensity. I had terrible FBS that started on day 5. It took awhile to figure out, but I finally learned that drinking a lot of water & keeping my saliva more dilute helped reduce the symptoms a lot.
For most of our members, FBS disappears completely but it can take 4-6 months or longer. The pain it causes does decrease significantly over time.
Hello Karen and welcome to Ben’s Friends. This is a peer-to-peer social and emotional support site for people who are suffering from Eagle Syndrome.
Here’s a link to a guide which we hope will get you started on giving as well as getting support. We’re looking forward having you share your experiences with us.
