Facial Pain after right jaw muscle being cut during surgery last May, 2012

I had a 2 CM. N.M. Meningioma removed @ Cornell in NYC last May, 2012. I continue to have right facial pain after my right facial muscle was cut during surgery. I recently asked the Surgeon & P.A. this past week about the pain & he said "Sometimes the pain never leaves certain Patients? I would like to ask if anyone else on this board suffers from pain as I do after having their right jaw muscle cut & if they have any pain relief suggestions? The pain is not leaving & I have it 24/7 & have great difficulty eating & opening my mouth.

My head scar is quite deep & long in my hair line, running from my mid forehead down to my right ear & the Surgeon said it's like this because he had to cut through bone? It feels like a deep crater & sometimes I catch my comb in it. Thank you, Ann G. from NY.

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Permalink Reply by Beth Rosenthal on January 17, 2013 at 6:09am

I'm so sorry, Ann. I'm sure that's so difficult to live with. I have nerve pain from my radiation treatment. Trigeminal neuralgia stole 12 yrs. of my life being doped up an in agony all day, every day. I finally have an amazing pain specialist and the pain is controlled most of the year. Let me know if you ever want to see a specialist for pain. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by ann on January 17, 2013 at 2:26pm

Thank you Beth. I do appreciate your reply & believe right now I need desperately to head asap to see a pain specalist. I live in Westchester County so maybe if your Pain Specailist can refer me to one close by, as my Husband Neil is recovering from a Defib Heart Implant & he can't drive. I was born & raised in NYC but am a real corward with driving in NYC traffic. Those Taxi Drivers scare me terribly. Thank you Beth. Regards Ann G.

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Permalink Reply by Naomi Ishisaka on January 17, 2013 at 4:16pm

Hi - I also had my right jaw muscle cut during surgery in 2009 and while it doesn't hurt, per se, I still cannot open my jaw very much (about 1.25 inches) and there is a strange "crunchy" sound where my jaw and my skull meet. One of my docs said it was because the joint where the jaw and skull meet are not perfectly aligned. So when I am wearing glasses, for example, when I open my jaw too much it hurts where at the joint where the glasses hit. If I touch it while I am open my jaw it feels like it's crunching. It's kind of hard to explain ... I also have a big scar (ear to ear over the top of my head) and it has craters as well (particularly near the right ear).

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Permalink Reply by jane smith on January 19, 2013 at 11:17pm

Hi,

I also had my jaw bone cut and found that more painful than my head the pain

lasted a long time with my jaw i was only on steriods but this controlled some of the face pain.

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Permalink Reply by ann on February 8, 2013 at 9:01pm

Hi Jane,

I still have head pain 9 months later post surgery. From my forehead down to my right jaw 24/7, gets much worse when I eat & try to open my mouth & chew food. I'm irritable & very cranky with the pain since surgery.......My Neuro Dr. recently advised me to visit a Dentist? My head scar hurts, especially very much in the NY cold weather, it's a very deep, deep ugly long scar. I've been told the pain is from scar tissue but I have had pain since day 1? I look online & see many women with this thin lace like scar on their foreheads. My M. was only 2 CM, Grade 1, but I've been left with a deep, deep crater in the top of my head, I catch my comb it constantly. I should have had it ZAPPED out, I have many, regrets with this surgery. I only had one opinion & feel now I should have taken a different course (Radiation) if possible maybe, I was told too close to the carotids & optic? I had my Surgery done in a NYC teaching Hosp, so who knows? A

I supposedly had one of the best Brain Surgeons in NYC, so can't undersatand why, he said he had to cut through bone. I also have a titanium plate & screws to keep the bone flap closed

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Permalink Reply by ann on February 8, 2013 at 9:08pm

ann said:

Hi Jane,

I still have head pain 9 months later post surgery. From my forehead down to my right jaw 24/7, gets much worse when I eat & try to open my mouth & chew food. I'm irritable & very cranky with the pain since surgery.......My Neuro Dr. recently advised me to visit a Dentist? My head scar hurts, especially very much in the NY cold weather, it's a very deep, deep ugly long scar. I've been told the pain is from scar tissue but I have had pain since day 1? I look online & see many women with this thin lace like scar on their foreheads. My M. was only 2 CM, Grade 1, but I've been left with a deep, deep crater in the top of my head, I catch my comb it constantly. I should have had it ZAPPED out, I have many, regrets with this surgery. I only had one opinion & feel now I should have taken a different course (Radiation) if possible maybe, I was told too close to the carotids & optic? I had my Surgery done in a NYC teaching Hosp, so who knows? A

I supposedly had one of the best Brain Surgeons in NYC, so can't understand why all of the constant pain & huge deep scar? , He said he had to cut through bone. I also have a titanium plate & screws to keep the bone flap closed

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Permalink Reply by Reni on March 2, 2013 at 12:13pm

I had surgery on 1/29/13 to remove an egg size meningioma, the surgeon had to cut my jaw muscle. My jaw pain was awful and I too couldn't open my mouth very wide. I started physical therapy and she has helped me tremendously by doing myofascial release which is a form of soft tissue therapy. I still have jaw pain but it's getting better with each treatment. So my advice is to not give up, keep trying different things to get relief (i.e. Physical Therapy; Massage; Accupuncture; Chiropractic).