Alright this is a tricky topic and probably nobody will know anything about it but you never know...
So I had a DJS and genioplasty 7 months ago. Everything is good except I have this extreme lower lip stiffness/ frozen feeling that has persisted. I have numbness too, but surface sensation. The sensation has improved as time has gone on, the stiff feeling is exactly the same. The PROBLEM I have with this stiff feeling is mostly that it affects my speech and my lower lip feels like it lacks proper mobility. It both feels uncomfortable to talk and I sound more garbled than pre-op.
This is not in my head. I have had clients at work ask me at 6 months post op how my recovery is going, and when I say fine but my mouth is really stiff, they say, “I noticed.” So it’s an objective problem, not subjective or in my head.
The surgeons I consulted in Canada, including Cameniti, say that the tightness is from nerve damage; it’s from the nerve playing “tricks.”
However I connected with somebody online who has had similar issues as me and she recommended an Indian craniofacial surgeon who claims he can help. His Instagram page is here:
https://instagram.com/drsunilrichardson?igshid=a1l97ihgqgt9According to Richardson, he has been doing revision genioplastys for patients with these issues since 2002. He has sent me 2 surgery videos of such cases where the patients complained of speech issues post genioplasty and were cured after he revised. He claims he can offer me huge if not total relief.
I think he believes there are 2 main causes of this tightness in the lower lip and chin: fixated plate impinging on the muscle, which many of us know of, or accidental incarceration of the muscle complex of the chin, which is something I’ve never heard personally.
He has said to me, “mental nerve damage only causes numbness, not stiffness.”
After reviewing my scan, he said the screws wouldn’t be an issue with me because they are very small, but it’s more about how the segment was brought forward. He continued: “ Usually I see what’s called a incarceration of the muscle or the muscle complex when patients have such complaints. And it’s not visible on scans... but can be felt on examination.”
This means he would repair the damaged chin muscles. I have done a CBCT scan and will have the results sent to him Monday for further review.
The problem is, I’m not sure I feel comfortable getting a revision done in India. The surgeon seems very confident he can help me, and he’s the only one who’s even suggested some kind of solution other than “blah blah blah scar tissue” or whatever.
Does anyone know if any American or Canadian surgeons KNOW HOW or have experience with repairing a damaged chin muscle from genioplasty?
Because I’ve never heard of this issue EVER, and I’m sure none of you have either. But then why has Dr. Richardson been doing these revisions for almost 2 decades? Does he know something other surgeons do not?