Author Topic: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months  (Read 27471 times)

aj08229

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: 0
Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« on: September 21, 2014, 07:40:36 AM »
Hey everybody i have major concern after having a double jaw surgery for my underbite .
the numbness seems to go away but there is lot of tightness that i could feel in my lower lip and chin which bothers me time to time .i can feel it more when it is cold weather .does anybody have clue how to deal with this? or how much time would it take to go away ?
waiting for your helpful replies ,thank you

Gregor Samsa

  • Guest
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2014, 08:02:20 AM »
Are you still in braces? I had trouble keeping my jaws in check while I still had my braces on but it's good now.

LoveofScotch

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 336
  • Karma: 20
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2014, 11:05:49 AM »
Take this with a grain of salt (I have NOT had surgery yet).

You could talk to your surgeon and see if they would be willing to try Botox in your chin. If they (or you) don't want to do that, or if it doesn't work, you may want to consider having your chin hardware removed.

Cheers!

aj08229

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: 0
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2014, 11:43:39 AM »
@Gregor Samsa thanks for replying , i am not in braces .i just have a strange stiff feeling in my chin i am 1 year post op. to the surgery .my braces were removed  by 4months post op. ..initially i had numbness where now it is all stiffness in chin and lower lip

@LoveofScotch thanks for reply , are you sure botox would work on a stiff skin and make it heal just like normal? any experiences would help me to ask .my surgeon says he does not have any idea about stiffness and i got my hardwares removed 2 months before .so there is no metal in my jaws or chin

LoveofScotch

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 336
  • Karma: 20
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2014, 12:09:20 PM »
Oh, so no braces and no hardware? That kinda narrows down my thoughts. I assume you did have a genioplasty, correct? And they removed ALL the hardware from your entire face?

No, I have no idea if Botox would work or not. It depends on why you're experiencing the tightness you're having. It's got a pretty low risk profile, so I would probably give it a shot. Depending on what it's being used to treat, it's injected differently (or that's what I've been told), so I would see someone who has treated stuff like this before.

The only two things I can think of, that would be causing what you're experiencing, are scar tissue or angry soft tissue. Scar tissue is really difficult to treat. If it's horrible and there's a lot of it, they can sometimes perform surgery to remove it, but that comes with its own set of problems. Surgery itself creates scar tissue, so when they perform surgery to physically remove it (cut it out), more is actually formed by default. You could try acupuncture, or look into other complementary and/or alternative therapies. It also may just get better on its own, with time. Angry soft tissue is sometimes easier to treat. If your problems are muscular, then Botox has a good shot at helping. Sometimes just one treatment is enough to break the pain cycle. For soft tissue stuff, you could also look into acupuncture or other complementary and/or alternative therapies, too.

Does your chin burn at all?

Modigliani

  • Private
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 549
  • Karma: 22
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2014, 01:53:09 PM »
I tend to agree with LoS that it could be scar tissue.

Serrapeptase is a supplement that is said to be effective in aiding the body break down the scar tissue, this happens eventually anyway with time but this stuff just gives the process a bit of a kick up the arse. A good quality fish oil might be a useful addition too if you aren't already taking it.

I'd be inclined to aid the breakdown manually too with massage.

aj08229

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: 0
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2014, 04:32:29 AM »
@Los thanks alot for taking time for writing , i did not have had genio plasty done , only my upper jaw was moved forward and lower backwards. well my lip does not burn at all neither i have pain .it is just this uncomfortable tightness that i feel which gets worse out in cold like my lower lip is frozen .it is just on the area where i had numbness , i cant really say if it is scar tissues but when i stretch the area it feels little weird . worst thing is my surgeon has no idea about it.i am trying to find another surgeon just for this concern , i would definitely give a thought to acupuncture as you guided

@Modigliani thanks for the reply , i would try the fish oil . i did try before but there wasnt any improvement in lip or chin . as far the medicines i tried different varieties  as told  by my surgeons assistant .it never helped .it is more of nerves being traumatized feeling


LoveofScotch

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 336
  • Karma: 20
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2014, 08:57:59 PM »
Hi aj08229,

If you see this, there's one more thing I thought of. Also, I just incorrectly assumed you had a genioplasty done. If your pain is coming from nerves (nerve pain), you could try pharmaceuticals. Two to try would be Pregabalin (sold under the brand name Lyrica), and Gabapentin (sold under several brand names, such as Neurontin, etc.). If you decide to go this route, I would personally try Neurontin first.

Unfortunately, with stuff like this, it's generally impossible to pinpoint the cause of pain w/o significant trial and error. I assume you've had a recent scan? If it's unremarkable, you're just going to have to start trying stuff. Sorry.

Also, do not for a damn second feel like something is "wrong" with you because your doctor can't figure this out.

PloskoPlus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3044
  • Karma: 140
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2014, 09:00:21 PM »
Dumb thing I heard - eating very spicy foods brings back/resets the nerves.

Modigliani

  • Private
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 549
  • Karma: 22
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2014, 06:22:48 AM »
One of the B vits is supposed to be particularly good too, can't remember which one.

aj08229

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: 0
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2014, 12:57:13 PM »
@LoS Well there is no nerve pain but only tightness or stiffness you can say which is uncomfortable .will those pharmaceuticals help with such issue?
@plosko haha I have been eating spicy foods after surgery for a year now..for this problem of tightness it does not work :)
@modi I had been taking vitamin b12 few months before .did not really made any difference for the tightness

LoveofScotch

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 336
  • Karma: 20
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2014, 04:20:21 PM »
No, they really wouldn't help if your tightness/stiffness is caused by scar tissue, or is muscle pain, etc. Although it doesn't sound like you're experiencing nerve pain, it's not impossible. Sometimes nerve pain presents itself in kinda a funny way. From what you described it doesn't really fit, but I still wanted to throw it out there. (Remember, I'm just a random person on the internet; I probably don't know what I'm talking about.)

Any chance the frenulum of your lower lip got stitched back up too tightly and is creating a tight, pulling sensation? I don't even know if that can happen... 

aj08229

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: 0
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2014, 10:55:49 AM »
@Los ok now that's skeptical .about the frenulum of my lower lip .on the left and right side of it I could feel layers just like frenulum which I believe are caused by the stitches and incisions were made after the surgery .could they or any disturbance to frenulum could generate this tight feeling? just like something is trapped

LoveofScotch

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 336
  • Karma: 20
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2014, 02:19:44 PM »
Sorry, I don't understand exactly what you're asking? And I truly don't know if stitching the frenulum up too tightly could cause what you're experiencing. If anything it seems like people mention it's too lax after surgery, and they're left with a "loose lip" feel/look.

If things are really horrible they could always go in and do exploratory surgery, but then you're going to be left with even more scar tissue from the new incisions. If you've already had your hardware removed, you would be cutting into your gums for the third time. No good.

I wish I had more to offer, but I'm out of ideas. Maybe some people here who've had surgery can be of more help.

jawbreakerbeach

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 22
  • Karma: 0
Re: Stiff/Tightness in lower lip-chin post op 1year 2months
« Reply #14 on: December 04, 2014, 06:44:26 PM »
My whole lower lip is numb (and a little bit below it) in one long strip a year after surgery.

I'm not sure if that's the same thing you're describing. But it's "dead-numb" not tingly numb, so it feels stiff to me.