I notice that I get a lot of questions about permanent numbness and about numbness in general resulting from jaw surgery. I will post a video about permanent numbness soon.
I had my surgery close to two years ago. I knew that there was a risk of permanent numbness when I agreed to have double jaw surgery and genioplasty. I knew this was a risk.
I have permanent numbness in my lower face. It's mainly on the left side of my face, the chin, lower lip, and gums.
Was it worth it to have this numbness? Absolutely.
To be honest, after living with numbness in my face this long I can confidently say that it hasn't had any effect of my life. The whole overreacting about numbness that everyone who is pre op makes isn't even worth it. I thought permanent numbness would make it impossible to eat normally and I thought it was something that would constantly be on my mind. To be honest I have never had food on my face that I didn't know about. The motion in your face doesn't change. Unless you usually eat and get food all over yourself, the numbness won't cause you to suddenly have all your food fall onto your chin.Do I notice it? No. The only time I notice that I have permanent numbness is if I purposely poke at my face or if the temperature changes suddenly. I don't think that saying it feels like when you go to the dentist is accurate. When you get your face numbed at the dentist you have a hard time moving your face and this hasn't been an issue at all with permanent numbness. I can move my mouth normally and I can smile normally.
Does it change the way kissing feels? At first it does, but at first jaw surgery altogether will change this. You're learning all over again how to move your face so everything involving your mouth is going to feel weird until you've recovered.
Honestly, ignore the people who go on and on about permanent numbness but haven't even had surgery or haven't fully recovered. You adapt to it and you get to a point where it just feels normal.
