ackhelp's Blog

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.

Because my lip ended up disfigured I would suggest a plastic surgeon who will be concerned about the way it looks after the surgery if your mucocele is on or near your lips. If it is in further your mouth you could probably go to an oral surgeon.

Lip looks the same.

Still numb.

"You can’t forget your lips. You can feel the wound, eating, drinking, talking, smiling, singing, kissing laughing."

Exactly. And like you said these ARE the most important things in your life. And for you, you're on stage like me. Yes, teaching IS on stage. Having had this happen definitly affects your ability to be comfortable on stage teaching. Especially when the scar tissue catches on your teeth while talking (happens to me and Im sure it does you) or vibrates like you said. I sing and it still affects my v's and f's.


P.S. Would you be willing to share a picture with me?

P.P.S I understand your feelings of anger toward yourself for not checking into things beforehand, but it is NOT your fault. It is the doctors for not telling you the potential side affects. The doctor I saw NEVER mentioned deformity yet after the fact he tells me two other patients had the same results. He sucks. Had I known that, I might have researched more. You didnt even have the internet back when you had yours done and you relied on your doctor who is supposed to be knowledgable. You're not the one to be mad at. Its obviously the doctor's fault for not telling you about what could happen.

I too wish I had made the decision not to have anything done. The bump was FAR better. A hundred times better.

Yeah. I hear you. It's been 6 months for me and I am still upset and I still think about it. how can I not? I see the gap every morning when I look in a mirror and I have a crooked smile in all my pictures. I'm very aware of it while just sitting here breathing because like you the air comes through. I dribble like you do, and I still cant whistle correctly.

Every time I audition for something now I have to worry that I just wont have a good smile for the part. Who is going to cast wonky lip as the leading lady? It's just another thing for them to decide I won't fit the part.

I should have researched. What was I to know!? Like you i thought this would be simple. I never expected nor was told I would end up with a messed up lip.

Sigh. People ask me if I am still concidering plastic surgery. Yes, yes I am. Of course. I want my smile back. Although now I am terrified that any surgery is going to mess me up further. I dont even want to go to the dentist. But I do want my lip to look better so Im going to go to a plastic surgeon.

By the way. I hate HATE HATE oral surgeons now. Hate them. Stupid idiots. I have had three experiances with them and in all cases things happened that they never said was a possiblity. Of course this was the worst. Pain I can dealt with. Being awake and in pain while they crack my teeth apart I can deal with. But having a permanent messed up lip is emotionaly distressing and long term and I cant even look at my face the same way anymore. It changed my confidance and self-esteem. I dont feel pretty at all. It is also still numb.




I probably shouldnt have even come in here to check in because it makes me so upset that Im back in tears again.

I agree, I think most people just have a local anesthetic. Personaly I did, and the experiance wasn't bad at all. Uncomfortable for sure, but basically painless except for the initial shot.

GO TO A PLASTIC SURGEON!!!

Sorry to shout, but I'd get a second opinion from a plastic surgeon because your ENT said you might have deformation. A plastic surgeon will be more careful about making sure your lip looks good after the surgery and they are qualified to work on removing mucoceles. Plus, your ENT is talking about it returning. If the offending gland/s is/are totaly removed than it shouldnt return. It would only return if another gland gets impacted, but not the original one. So I'd suggest seeing another doctor either way to make sure whomever removes it does it properly so that it wont return.



Personaly, I liked my mucocele MUCH better than the deformed lip my oral surgeon gave me. If I had known better I would have gone to a plastic surgeon instead.

Its been over two months now, maybe three, and I am still numb although sometimes I think it is getting more tingly than it was before...by a very small amount.

As far as post surgery is concerned. The swelling really seemed to go away after a few weeks. I think I looked unaffected after about three weeks tops (aside from the permanent dip in my lip left as a deformation which everyone thinks is a birth defect).

I think if your surgeon does everything properly you will regain full use of your lips and you will be fine for your musical career. :)

Definitely go find another doctor.

Kimmer41, obviously I regret having mine removed. I am very upset with my lips appearance and, yes, it does affect my ability to whistle and do certain lip excercizes with singing (I can't create the required seal for a few things).

Please DO go to a plastic surgeon.

I went to an oral surgeon and he is the reason it is all messed up. Had i gone to a plastic surgeon they would have been more careful (and both of the ones who Ive visited for fixing my lip post-surgery have told me they would have done things differently in order to preserve the shape of my lip).

So, my advice is to go to a plastic surgeon, and yes they are very aware of how to remove these and very qualified. If you have any dobts ask your plastic surgeon if they do this proceedure and what to expect.

Yeah, his pictures do seem like a cakewalk.

The dip in my lip seems severe enough for all the doctors to think I will need to have a lip augmentation proceedure to fix it. There has been no change in the size of it.

I'm hoping the sensation is coming back, there are days when it seems to be completely numb and other days when I think there is a little feeling.

I think I might be getting some sensation back in my lip. I'm not really sure though, I could just be getting used to the numbness but I think there is now a little tinglyness.

My lip unfortunately still looks exactly the same and the plastic surgeons I've seen both tell me they are not optimistic about it looking any better on it's own. One of them wants me to keep massaging it and look at it again in two months.

But at least I might be getting nerve regrowth.

Thanks. I'll keep everyone up to date. =)

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.

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!

I agree with you. I had all four of my impacted wisdom teeth removed (by a different oral surgeon when I lived in another state) and they warned me of many complications and how much pain there would be post-surgery. Ironicaly, the surgery itself was pretty unpleasant but the post-surgery healing time was like a cake walk. My upper holes healed in a week (the doctor was surprized and asked if I even had my top wisdom teeth removed because it healed so fast and so completely that it confused him) and my lower teeth healed shortly thereafter. i didnt even take the prescribed painkillers.

But with the mucocele I was given no warnings of anything. Just that Id be puffy and sore. Actually, i can deal with pain pretty well so I again didnt take the pain killers, but it WAS much more uncomfortable, painful, sore, and irratating to deal with. All of that wouldnt bother me so much if I wasnt left with a misshapen lip. Also, they acted like there was very very little likelyhood of it ended up numb, which it still is. It seems like numbness is REALLY common based on everyone's posts in here and what the plastic surgeons told me. I understand that it should go away in several months to a year (I was told up to a year) but you would think the doctors would tell you right away that numbness is a likely side affect and not to worry if you do end up a little numb because it will go away in time. You know, so you don't freak out about the numb patches. Seems logical to me to explain this before surgery.

Im glad my pictures helped you. I disagree about only the extreem cases being posted. If you read all of the posts in here you will find FAR more people just getting information or talking about thier sucessful operation and what their recovery was like. I only read about one other person besides myself who had this happen, most of the members in here are happy mucocle survivors without significant complications, or they are new people with mucocles getting information. I think your ENT was trying to brush off my story in a sense when I know I personaly would rather have read my story first before going into an operation. I hate that I didnt have the chance to ask my doctor about asymmetry and that I never even thought that would be an issue. Had i asked maybe I could have found a better suited doctor.

Im sorry I've indirectly annoyed your doctor, lol, I never ment for this to cause any doctor to feel like he has to explain himself. I just wanted people to be careful. I dont want anyone to be as upset as I am.

I just wanted to update everyone and give a general piece of advice.

Ive seen two plastic surgeons about my mis-shapen lip (caused by the removal of a mucocele on my lower lip) and both do NOT think it will return to normal shape without some work. Both of these doctors removed mucoceles on a regular basis and both would have done them differently based on the pictures I showed them of my mucocele.

Apparently it looks like the oral surgeon removed some of my mucosa (lining of the mouth) and possibly other non-mucocele related tissue when he removed my mucocele and that is part of the reason my lip is so dented and deformed.

So, my advice to you all is to please ask questions as to how your doctor is going to remove your mucocele and whether they feel it will affect your lips shape (assumeing you have one on or near your lip). If they think it will affect the shape, go to a plastic surgeon to have it removed. Educate yourself on your surgeons and don't assume it is an easy fix without complications. Also ask your doctor how many of these he/she has removed before in this area (after the fact my doctor said he'd never seen one in this area before).

As nice as it might be to have someone else to co-miserate with, I really do not want anyone else to end up dealing with a messed up lip like mine. =( At the moment I am facing future surgery to fix my lip, and even with fixing it it will likely not look the same as it had.

Also, a last word of advice, always appreciate what you have. No matter how imperfect you think you might be appreciate what you have for it could change without warning.

If I were you I would have some other doctors take a look and give thier opinion. The right doctor will know how to remove the whole gland so it doesnt reoccure.


Oh, and if its near your lip or anywhere that might affect your appearance you might choose to see a plastic surgeon. I sure wish I did.

1.5 inches DOES sound very large. According to my (possibly bad) oral surgeon MINE was a large one and yet my cut was probably a bit under an inch.

Edit: The plastic surgeons who saw photos of mine before the surgery told me it was a medium sized one.

I also agree. It looks like one but you need to take her to doctor.

Im sure your symmetry will be fine. I mean, I could TELL my lip was warped and smaller than the normal side immediately. Even with it supposedly "puffy" it was much smaller than the normal half. So, if your lip looks larger than it normaly is on that side than youre probably in good shape.


BTW, did your doctor tell you that poking and draining the thing makes them larger and would eventualy cause you to have to have more of your tissue removed? I really want to hear if that is true at all because I cant find any evidence.


Your numb spot sounds like mine. Its weird that the outside is numb but the cut is actually still sensitive. Mines been numb now nearly 3 weeks but Im not even really worried about it because everyone says it will come back (including doctors I actually trust).

Sounds like you had a relatively good experiance. =)

Wait, I think I see what you are saying now.

Okay I want to know about the orientation of the cut and how it was closed. Not the individual stitches.

If the cut is up and down then the stitches all together make a line going up and down.

If the cut is right to left then the stitches all together make a line from right to left.

It makes sence that each individual stitch will be perpendicular to the cut.

Okay you all just confused me. What???

Maybe I need a better description of vertical vs. horazontil...especialy since I'm really concerned about the stitches orientation to the lip and not the actual cut...and now Im not sure if you guys are telling me the stiches are vertical (perpendicular) or horazontal (Parallel) compaired to your lip.


Here:

Up and Down

If you are standing upright, do your stitches all together make a line from your lip heading down such that one stitch is higher than the other in such a way that if you connect them you would draw a line that follows the lenght of your body and would extend past the lips up into the air and down through your body to the ground. This is what I ment by vertical. Lets just call this Up and Down Stitches.

Like this:
l
l
l
l
l

or if each x is an individual stitch that all line up like this:

x
x
x
x
x


Or

Left to Right

If you are standing upright, do your stitches all together make a line from one side of your lips to the other following the curve of your lip in such a way that all the stitches are roughly the same distance away from your lip and form a line that is opposite the lenght of your body. If you connect the stitches and draw a line it would go from left to right out either side of your jaw. This is what i ment by horazontal. Lets call this Left to Right.

Like This => ------------

or if each x is an individual stitch that all line up like this:


x x x x x x

I posted this seperately because I thought people with vertical incisions might not read the post about horazontil ones.

So if you had a vertical incision for the removal of a lower lip mucocele please let me know here. I'd appreciate it!


EDIT:

Maybe I need a better description of vertical vs. horazontil...especialy since I'm really concerned about the stitches orientation to the lip and not the actual cut.

So where your stitches up and down or right to left:

Here:

Up and Down=Vertical Incision

If you are standing upright, do your stitches make a line from your lip heading down such that one stitch is higher than the other in such a way that if you connect them you would draw a line that follows the lenght of your body and would extend past the lips up into the air and down through your body to the ground. This is what I ment by vertical. Lets just call this Up and Down.

Like this:

l
l
l
l
l

or if each x is an individual stitch that all line up like this:


x
x
x
x
x


Or

Left to Right = Horazontal

If you are standing upright, do your stitches make a line from one side of your lips to the other following the curve of your lip in such a way that all the stitches are roughly the same distance away from your lip and form a line that is opposite the lenght of your body. If you connect the stitches and draw a line it would go from left to right out either side of your jaw. This is what i ment by horazontal. Lets call this Left to Right.

Like This => ------------

or if each x is an individual stitch that all line up like this:


x x x x x x

Erin,

Does your lip look fine (as in do you think it will heal looking like the same shape you had when you went in?).

Thanks!

Jabhiji, were your stitches parrallel to your lip (horazontal) or did they go up and down (vertical)?

Thanks brainfry...and your lip looks normal?

Thank you so much Spumanti!

Please, anyone and everyone who reads this let me know if you had a vertical or horizontal incision.
Thanks!!!

Spumanti,

Thank you. And thank you for posting the poll.

I hate going through this, but I appreciate everyones support.

I really get the feeling my doctor didn't think about what he was doing. He said to me in the follow up meeting that he had never even seen a mucocele in this particular location before. Great. So basically he went in there without any experience dealing with a mucocele below the lower lip.

As for your own mucocele, do yourself the favor I wish I had known to worry about and search around for a doctor who's experienced, reputable, and going to make sure you come out looking the same as you did walking in.

Kab, they were all dissolvable stitches and are all gone now. Or at least I assume they are all gone, I suppose some on the inside (if there are any) might still be hanging in if they exist. Its been nearly two weeks now and the stitches I could see, all five of them) fell out a week ago so I assume they are all gone by now. I don't feel any lumps in my lip where stitches might have been sewn. I'm going to have to get my medical records to see what exactly he did...to see if there are any internal stitches still holding my lip down. However, based on how much of my lip has healed and where the lip now meets the inner scar I really don't think its going to fill out.

Thank you for letting me know yours was sewn up vertically, which makes so much more sense to me. So, in all likelihood I probably could have had a vertical incision instead of the horizontal one, which wouldn't have involved the pulling down and in of my lip.

I hope your lip heals up quickly for you and stops irritating you so that it doesn't bother you at work.