My name is Cameron and i'm 24 years old and live in Lexington, Ky. Due to either biting my lip while chewing or getting hit in the mouth playing basketball, causing a laceration, I developed a pea size mucocele in October 2007. I finally got around to having the surgery after getting tired of the annoyance. The location was inner, lower left lip. I read this site quite a bit and did other internet research and it seemed to be a minor and relatively uncomplicated procedure. After a recommendation for an oral surgeon from a lady at my church, I had it removed two weeks ago today.
Things seem to be healing fine. I had the stiches out yesterday and the swelling has really improved, but there is still numbness in my left lower lip. A good portion of it is still numb. I freaked about a little bit because I'm a Christian writer and communicator by vocation. I speak to gatherings at least three times a week. There's not much pain, but it just feels very awkward and annoying. Individuals say that they dont notice my speech or enunciation being any different but ive been very self conscious about it. My smile isn't back to normal yet and i'm a bit worried about kissing. I had the surgery done to remove an annoyance and I feared I created a greater one.
On a good note, after speaking with my doctor yesterday, he said it was completely normal. He said if my chin or other areas were still numb, that would be a problem, but since its just the lip, isolated to the incision, that I had nothing to worry about. He said that it would take a month or more for the feeling to get back to normal. He said that every single patient he has ever performed the procedure for, regained feeling in their lip in a month or so.
So while that was encouraging, I still have some trepidation. I tend to be a bit of a worry wart anyway.
To those in a similar situation, did you experience the numbness slowly go away?
Cam
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Numbness after mucocele surgery
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Before my mucocele appeared I'd had surgery on the inside of my lower lip whereby tissue was taken to use a graft elsewhere. So it was long, wide and deep. There was a numb patch there for a very long time, years, but it has eventually gone. I would expect a mucocele op to recover much more quickly.
I'm experiencing the exact same thing right now, only on the lower right.
I'm 1 week post-op (2nd surgery). After two days, everything had feeling again except for a good portion of my lower lip, which has remained numb.
Was really gross this time - lots of scar tissue and multiple little tapioca-looking balls (ewwww!!).
I'm going in to see the doctor again to make sure all's healing well. I'm determined to have this sucker gone for the last time!
I'm 1 week post-op (2nd surgery). After two days, everything had feeling again except for a good portion of my lower lip, which has remained numb.
Was really gross this time - lots of scar tissue and multiple little tapioca-looking balls (ewwww!!).
I'm going in to see the doctor again to make sure all's healing well. I'm determined to have this sucker gone for the last time!
Well, it has been almost a year to the day with my surgery and my lip is still numb. I too just had the numbness in a small section and the doctor acted like it was no big deal because it wasn't my whole lip that was numb. As far as regaining sensation, over the first six months I did get a little sensation back but since then it has remained in a tingly numb state. Kind of like when your foot falls asleep and is on pins as needles.
So it is possible you should gain some sensation back, but how much is the question. The doctors I've seen since this proceedure have told me that I might get some more sensation back but now that it has been a year it is unlikely that I will ever be completely normal again.
The numb tingling sucks because it is a constant reminder of how my lip looks and it is not a pleasant feeling to have my lip be on pins and needles all the time.
However, I will tell you that even if you never regain sensation you will be able to compensate somewhat while speaking. I sing and have more difficulty with certain consonants so I have to use my lips differantly now.
I wish my smile wasn't crooked. It is most definitely and permanently (barring corrective surgery) disfigured from the surgery.
So it is possible you should gain some sensation back, but how much is the question. The doctors I've seen since this proceedure have told me that I might get some more sensation back but now that it has been a year it is unlikely that I will ever be completely normal again.
The numb tingling sucks because it is a constant reminder of how my lip looks and it is not a pleasant feeling to have my lip be on pins and needles all the time.
However, I will tell you that even if you never regain sensation you will be able to compensate somewhat while speaking. I sing and have more difficulty with certain consonants so I have to use my lips differantly now.
I wish my smile wasn't crooked. It is most definitely and permanently (barring corrective surgery) disfigured from the surgery.
its been 5 years since the first one i had was removed and its still numb
I had my mucosele removed 3 1/2(?something like that) years ago, and I still have tingling and numbness on my incision site. I just resigned myself to it that it's not going away. It affected my smile at first, but now it does not seem to.
I had my surgery 6 months ago and am glad to find this site because I thought I was going crazy! I still have the numbness/tingling sensation although it doesn't affect my smile or speaking; it does affect eating. I have bit the area several times and it is a weird feeling.
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I had my surgery about 12 hours ago. The surgeon numbed my entire mouth pretty much right before the surgery. And now 12 hours later the bottom right of my lips is still numb. Will this numbness go away?
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8 months later, mine continues to tingle and be annoying. Are you still having the issue?
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I still have the numbness after 6 months and am going back to the Dr. tomorrow. It is worrisome to me but may be the result of trauma to the area and I will have to live with it...ugh
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I'm 1 yr post op and I still have a little numbness. It has definitely improved in the last 6 months though. I have really full lips so the incision area is noticeable to me but ppl tell me its not (unless I point it out). Try massaging it with vitamin e oil and eat fresh fruits and veggies + seeds and nuts to help the nerves heal. Dont worry fellow ex-mucocelians, the numbness is waaaaay better than that lump on your lip!
guest poster
Yep, mine is also still numb after about 6 years and a small white lump at the incision site - it hurts like hell whenever I drink coffee or tea, I think it might be an exposed nerve or something. The tissues around it are hard as well.
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Yikes. My surgery is on Monday morning. I'm fearing I will be creating a worse problem with all this talk of numbness and more lumps afterwards. I have a small mucocele that is visible but do you think the scar will be worse? I'm like super freaking outtttt. :-/.
-Robert
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Concurred. I reeeeaaaally don't want surgery if they're going to slice my nerves off and get a paycheck.
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It would take awhile before the numbness completely goes away. My surgery was a year back and im still having some numbness
I just got mine removed yesterday & I just have a little numbness. I'm going back in a week to get my itches removed. The only thing is that my lip is swollen im not in pain but I don't know if I should just ice it??? Oh btw mine was removed by laser.
Just wanted to pitch in my two cents... I got mine removed in mid-September (about three months ago now) by scalpel. I still do not have full sensation on the right half of my lower lip. Like someone else mentioned, I don't notice it all that much any more when I'm talking/smiling/etc, but I do tend to accidentally bite it when I'm eating.
Honestly, though, I would much rather have the numbness than the mucocele. Given another chance, and knowing that the outcome would be what it was, I'd still get the thing out.
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