Hi,
I thought I'd share these pics in case anyone's interested - I have pretty much had the same experience as Ackhelp.
I had a mucocele removed late last year by an oral & maxillofacial surgeon, and since then I've had an assymetrical gap in my lower lip. I am also still numb in that area. My surgeon removed the mucocele intact, along with the saliva gland to prevent recurrence. He used a horizontal incision. I think he basically removed too much tissue, which is what left me with the gap.
I recently saw a plastic surgeon about correcting the assymetry (I'm still hopeful that the numbness will improve on its own). He recommended fat transfer (injection of fat cells taken from elsewhere in the body). He said that permanent fillers injected into the lip area can feel like a noticeable ball or lump, and also might not stay put. The risk with fat transfer is that the cells often just die, but he thinks that several injections of only a few cells at a time offer the best chance of permanent improvement, although he said he couldn't guarantee it.
So anyway, I want to emphasise what Ackhelp and Spumanti have said about being cautious about surgery - ask your surgeon lots of questions about risks & their experience. And definately consider getting a plastic surgeon to do it! My O&M; surgeon didn't tell me anything about permanent disfigurement or permanent numbness - in retrospect I think he was not at all concerned with the appearance of my lips, since he mainly does wisdom teeth and jaw reconstructions and that sort of thing.
Take care.
http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=gallery&go;=munted
The quality on the site above is pretty poor - sorry. Hopefully I'll be able to post some more pics when I finally have the corrective procedure done.
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Post Operative Solutions Discuss Here
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Thanks for posting and please do post some higher quality pictures if you can. Photobucket is a great sight for free picture hosting.
It looks like you have more lip to work with than I have and I hope your plastic surgeon can fix your lip completely. The surgeons Ive seen both suggest fat injections as well so it sounds like that is the right way to go. They have been telling me there is a greater likelihood of the cells surviving these days with the new techniques they are using. No one seems to think that permanent fillers are any good because they can move and they don't feel natural.
When are you getting your lips fixed? Please do keep us posted!
It looks like you have more lip to work with than I have and I hope your plastic surgeon can fix your lip completely. The surgeons Ive seen both suggest fat injections as well so it sounds like that is the right way to go. They have been telling me there is a greater likelihood of the cells surviving these days with the new techniques they are using. No one seems to think that permanent fillers are any good because they can move and they don't feel natural.
When are you getting your lips fixed? Please do keep us posted!
Ok, I've posted better pics. You can click on them to enlarge.
http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=gallery&go;=munted
I'm glad to hear that your two plastic surgeons also recommended fat injections.
I am going to wait until around October/November 2007 to have the fat injections, because the plastic surgeon thought it was advisable to wait about a year. I am also hoping that I will eventually regain feeling in the area, so I want to wait as long as possible before doing anything to give the nerves a chance to regrow. I am starting to doubt whether that will happen though - since its been 6 months and I'm still numb.
Do you have numbness? Did your plastic surgeons say anything about that? Are you going to wait a while or have the fat injections soon?
I just hope whatever they do to us doesn't make it worse either. I really wonder now about the skill of some of these doctors. Hopefully a plastic surgeon would have to be pretty competent though.
http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=gallery&go;=munted
I'm glad to hear that your two plastic surgeons also recommended fat injections.
I am going to wait until around October/November 2007 to have the fat injections, because the plastic surgeon thought it was advisable to wait about a year. I am also hoping that I will eventually regain feeling in the area, so I want to wait as long as possible before doing anything to give the nerves a chance to regrow. I am starting to doubt whether that will happen though - since its been 6 months and I'm still numb.
Do you have numbness? Did your plastic surgeons say anything about that? Are you going to wait a while or have the fat injections soon?
I just hope whatever they do to us doesn't make it worse either. I really wonder now about the skill of some of these doctors. Hopefully a plastic surgeon would have to be pretty competent though.
Thanks for your additional pictures! I'm going to send you another message wih a more detailed responce.
In a nutshell: Yes I am still numb with out any obvious improvement and I think I will wait before getting the fat injections. I think you're doing the smart thing in waiting to see if the nerves can heal some more. That makes a lot of sense.
In a nutshell: Yes I am still numb with out any obvious improvement and I think I will wait before getting the fat injections. I think you're doing the smart thing in waiting to see if the nerves can heal some more. That makes a lot of sense.
Hi, I am about seven weeks out from surgery now and have only the slightest of numbness left. The numbness consistently has gotten less and less each week and so at this rate I am guessing it will be gone for me within another month tops. I do have some hardness (scar tissue) but it is not a big deal and does not impact me. My doctor said to give it at least about four months. If the hardness is not all gone at that point, which he thinks it will be, he said that he can shoot it with cortisone and that will get rid of residual hardness in the majority of cases.
Thanks for that information about the cell transfer - that is interesting. Maybe it's something which will be developed over the next few years and with stem cell transplant this could be a way forward.
How does it affect you on a day to day level? Does it get you down or are you able to shrug it off?
My lip gets me so frustrated even tonight I was eating some soup and it was burning the injury. Then I didn't want to eat after that. I would do anything to get my old lip back.
I keep hoping for a miracle.
How does it affect you on a day to day level? Does it get you down or are you able to shrug it off?
My lip gets me so frustrated even tonight I was eating some soup and it was burning the injury. Then I didn't want to eat after that. I would do anything to get my old lip back.
I keep hoping for a miracle.
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