Ask Bella: Numbness and nerve damage

Q: During my meeting with the surgeon last week, he warned me about the small possibility of damaging the nerves. I kind of knew the risks that exist with these types of surgeries, but as I sat there listening to him, I really had this overwhelming fear that I will lose feeling on some parts of my face. So then I started really to research more about it. Given that, I wanted to ask you the following questions:

1. Did you have huge concerns over nerve damage?
   
   A: I was concerned, but I did a lot of research, read people's stories on the Internet and talked to people who had the procedure done. I also looked into alternative health practices that would help with nerve repair, such as acupuncture, supplements, and homeopathic remedies. You can see my list of homeopathic/supplements that I took before and after surgery here. Also, all my posts that deal specifically with numbness can be found here.
   
   
   
2. What did your surgeon tell you about the risks involved and how likely it is that something will go "wrong"?
   
   A: My surgeon told me that there was a risk for permanent numbness in the chin/lower lip and that risk went up with age. So, at 32 years old, I had a 32 per cent chance of having permanent numbness. However, this guy had been doing this surgery for longer than I have been alive, so I had faith in his abilities to minimize damage and risk.
   
   
   
3. Did you hesitate about going through the surgery? If so, why did you decide to go ahead?
   
   A: No hesitation. Once I did all my research and felt comfortable with the surgery, I moved forward and never looked back. I did this surgery because I was having a lot of TMJ pain as a result of my overbite and knew that it would get worse if I didn't do something.
   
   
   
4. Do you regret having gone through the surgery because of nerve issues?
   
   A: No regrets. And no major nerve problems because of the surgery.
   
   
   
5. Has all the feeling gone back to your chin/jaw/lip areas?
   
   A: A year after surgery, I have almost full feeling in my lower lip and chin. It is more than 99 per cent there and improves everyday. I don't notice it unless I touch the area very, very lightly. If I use a regular touch, it feels like the rest of my face, and I can't tell the difference. The majority of the feeling in my chin/lip came back very quickly (within a month of surgery) and then slowed down, but improved on an ongoing basis. I have faith I'll have full feeling return, but even if I don't, I can live with the way it is - it's not weird at all.
   
   
   
6. Would you have done something differently?
   
   A: I would have taken iron supplements post-surgery. It was the only thing I didn't think about doing and I became anemic as a result. Of course, this isn't the case for everyone, but it was for me. I also would not have let my orthodontist take off my braces when he did - it was too soon and gaps opened up between my teeth and I had to have the braces put back on a few months later. Otherwise, no "what ifs". I was very prepared.
   
   
   
7. Knowing what you know now, will you do the surgery all over again?
   
   A: Absolutely. No regrets. I'm happy with the results, and I am looking forward to a pain-free life with a winning smile.

Of course, this is my situation and experience and everyone is different.

Thanks for your questions, and good luck!

*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!

Medical claims

So, last year was quite the year for medical expenses for me. Fortunately, I do live in Canada, where my surgery and hospital stay were completely covered by our health care system.

But that doesn't mean that there weren't major costs associated with this surgery for me. The surgical splint was $500 and wasn't covered under any of my benefit plans. Also, I had my surgery in another city, which meant lots of travelling back and forth to see my surgeon. And then there was a lengthy recovery, which included extra insurance, medications, physiotherapy, massage therapy (including lymph drainage massage), acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy, orthodontics and dentistry.

I avoided totalling it all up until now. And the damage: more than $4,700.

Wow. That's a lot. And the above is just the amount my benefits didn't cover. If it were the full amount, it would be another few thousand for sure (not to mention the shortfall in my gross pay because of all the work I missed due to related illnesses over the past year.)

Then again, being able to chew like a normal person and replace frequent migraines with a winning smile?

Priceless.

And hey, at least I get a good tax return this year.

Ask Bella: Nerve damage and chin numbness

Q: It's such a scary thing to anticipate putting oneself through such a major procedure, and I must say I also find the prospect of permanent nerve damage terrifying. Thanks for sharing your experiences with acupuncture, as that gives me some hope that things can be done afterwards to help! I just wanted to ask: Are you still having improvements in recovering sensation in your lower face?

A: With the chin/lip numbness, I notice an improvement every single day. It's amazing, really. After the surgery, I noticed the numbness starting to go away alongside the swelling. At the two week post-op point, I would say I had about 85% of my feeling back. The return of feeling each day was very noticeable at that point.

Now that I'm at about 99% of feeling back, the return is more subtle. Instead of getting back 5% a day, it's .05% a day (or some other microscopic amount. I'm into words, not numbers, so please excuse my lack of accurate mathematical estimates.) But I notice it everyday, particularly after acupuncture or one of those home microdermabrasion facials. What a great excuse for a facial!! Anyway, I'm fully confident that I'll have total feeling back by the end of this year at the latest. I'll keep everyone posted on my blog, but I know it will happen.

*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!

Ask Bella: Acupuncture

Q: I've never had accupuncture before and am scared of the little needles. But I am tempted to try it, after having read your website. Would you strongly recommend it for the numbness? I also had a genioplasty (where they take your chin bone and slide it out forward to create more of a chin), and I can't even remotely feel ANY sensation in my chin. Which is, apparently, normal. But if I can speed up the process of the numbness going away, I'd love to do it. I'm just a little scared.

A: The first time I had acupuncture, I was scared, too. But it doesn't hurt that much, if at all. I mean, think about everything you've been through so far - do you really think acupuncture with its teensy little needles will ever compare to having a bone saw taken to your face? After what you've been through, you can handle anything!!

Also, some naturopaths or physiotherapists do it, which means you might be able to find someone who can help you with all of your post-surgery recovery needs. It's important to find an acupuncturist you can communicate well with. I've had some excellent acupuncturists who could barely speak English. They were great at what they did, but it was difficult to understand them, so if you had any questions or wanted them to explain what they're doing to you, you were out of luck. If you haven't had it done before, keep that in mind!

I did notice a big change in the numbness after I started going to acupuncture. Everyone's different, but it really helped me.

*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!

Poke me, baby

One of the things that stressed me the most about having jaw surgery was the possibility that there would be nerve damage, leaving my chin and lower lip numb for a year or perhaps forever. My orthodontist told me the likelihood of permanent nerve damage increases with your age. As a 32-year-old undergoing the surgery, I had a 32% chance of permanent numbness.

This prospect was thoroughly unacceptable and made me determined to be in the 68% of people who regain full feeling in their lips and chin.

So, I did what I've done with pretty much everything surrounding this surgery: obsessive-compulsive research, or OCR for short. I found a number of homeopathic and natural remedies to help reduce inflammation and nerve pain, and I investigated acupuncture to help rejuvenate nerves.

I also stalked jaw surgery survivors. A friend had the surgery in her 40s and ended up with permanent nerve damage in her chin. When she finally discovered acupuncture, which helped her get some of the feeling back, the practitioner told her that he could have helped her get all of it back...if she had only come to him one month after the surgery, instead of one year later.

Some sharp needles in my face vs. not being to fully appreciate future make-out sessions = easy decision. I made the appointment for two weeks after the surgery. Stat.

You talkin' to me?
Can you tell I took this shot myself?

I had gone for acupuncture before, with mixed results. One practitioner took on so many patients that she made her storage closet into a treatment room. You'd be lying on the table, immobile (because needles were piercing various body parts, and moving would shoot pain up your limbs), and someone would walk in, reach up to pull something off the shelf above your head, and leave. And then someone else would do the same a few minutes later. She was also so busy that she'd even forget needles in you. I stopped going to her after discovering a large needle in my ankle and having to pull it out myself.

The other practitioner I saw could barely speak English. She had such a heavy Chinese accent that the majority of conversations with her involved the phrases, "What?" "Excuse me?" and "I'm sorry, I don't understand," as well as a fair bit of gesticulating. I don't know about you, but when someone is coming at you with a handful of sharp needles, it kind of helps to know what they're saying.

Regarding the acupuncture itself, both of the practitioners I saw were great at it and their treatments helped me feel a lot better. But when you've got a broken jaw, you just want to go to someone you're comfortable with. Fortunately, my new naturopath also practices acupuncture. I was relieved to discover this, as I really liked her, even though her elimination diet had nearly pushed me over the edge the last time I saw her.

A great up-the-nose shot. But you can see all the homeopathic and natural remedies in the background.
Plus, I have a cute nose, right?

I usually find acupuncture really relaxing. I go into a meditative state, and sometimes, I feel like I am levitating out of my body. Not this time, though, because my naturopath and I were goofing around with my camera, trying to get a shot that showed the needles in my face. The facial acupuncture needles are even thinner than the regular kind, so it was really hard to get them to show up in pictures.

Finally, we got a good one!

When she took the needles out from behind my ears, it was the strangest sensation - it felt like they were still there. I rubbed my skin, concerned that this was acupuncture déjà vu all over again, when she said, "Does it feel like they're still there? That means the chi is working."

I didn't know what that meant. But all I knew was that two weeks after my surgery, I had about 75% of the feeling back in my chin and lower lip. In the days following the acupuncture treatment, my feeling came back rapidly. By the one month post-surgery mark, I had 95% of it back, and today, I would say that I'm at about 98%.

Am I going back to get more needles stuck into me? H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks, yeah!