Hey guys, jw if this is normal or not…I had chiari decompression in January, and then last Tuesday I had a dura patch and some more bone taken off. I have over 50 stitches from the incision and on the right top side of my head it’s still numb. I would think the feeling would have came back by now. Anyone else experience such like this ?
I had chairi surgery in March of 2012 and still have some numbness on the side of my head. It has gotten somewhat better but not sure if I will ever get all the feeling back. The doctor had always said that he thought it would take sometime? Not sure?
Hi I had the surgery in 2010 it will get better as the time goes but the numbness will come and go
My surgery was in 2012 and I still don’t have any feeling on the left side. My doctor said it would never come back. I wish there was a textbook way of telling people how to know what’s going to happen to you after surgery.
I had my surgery in January of 2015 and have numbness on the right side of my head. The area of numbness has decreased some and I was told it may never come back. The times that I have some feeling, it is pain from underneath. I also had a dura patch. Hope you’re feeling better. Wishing you the best!
I had surgery 6 months ago and still have a patch of numbness on the top right of my scalp. My surgeon said that he could not avoid cutting some nerves so it’s expected to have some numbness. It may never go away. But, since I can now laugh, cough, sneeze, reach up, bend over, etc with any headaches, a little numbness is a small price to pay.
My surgery was August 2014. I still have significant numbers on my left side. My neurologist said my occipital nerve was damaged during surger. My numbness was very painful for many months. Only in the last 2 months have I noticed that it is just numb now and I don’t have that pins and needles feeling. He told me it takes 1 month for 1 inch of nerve to rejenerate. Nor sure how correct that is. He also told me there are 2 places the damage can occur. 1 is during the cutting of the incision, 2 when the screws are placed to stabilize your head, 3 at the level of C1 if you have your vertebrae removed partially or fully. So I’m not sure if any of that helps but I too had and continue to have numbness of the left side of my scalp.
I did for a time. It never completely went away but over time the irritating spot on the back of my neck did get more sensation. My former NL said it was more from the DDD in my neck than it was the surgery though. But I started feeling it after the surgery.
I had surgery in October 2014. I had numbness too but it went away though it took several months. Give yourself some time.
Hi Brooke. I had decompression surgery in 2003 that included a C1 laminectomy, and duraplasty. I still have almost complete numbness in the entire back of my head and neck. It felt weird for a long time, but I've gotten used to it.
Is the numbness where your incision/stitches are? Also do you know what type of patch the surgeon used? Mine told me it would either be something synthetic that was easily accepted by the body or be a natural patch made from scalp tissue- if thats the case it could be the cause of your numbness.
I haven’t experienced any numbness, but my only real quess would be that he may have damaged a nerve during the operation, and the part of your brain that is being worked near controlls most of your sensations.
Did you have a neuromuscular physicians there? I was given one on my team who’s job was to monitor my nerves to ensure the doctor didnt get close and there would be no nerve damage.
Anything could have touched a nerve, including cutting through all your neck muscles.
Have you called your neurosurgeon about it?
I really hope you can find the answers you’re looking for and won’t have to live with numbness too long. I know how annoying it can be since I had it pre-surgery.
Best of luck, Brooke!
Yes, I remember numbness for almost a year after decompression. Now day they do a transverse incision up in the hairline. When i had it done 26 years ago, they did a vertical incision down my head, neck, and between my shoulder blades. YUK!
I had my decompression in January and am still numb went to see my neurosurgeon last week and he said it was nerve damage and would take a while to come back so time will tell otherwise touch wood all is great xx
I would like to add, since reading about so many people having numbness issues, that even though I haven’t personally noticed any head numbness (and if my incision site is numb, I wouldn’t know as I still have to keep it bandaged) but I have noticed my right ear is numb… has anyone else noticed numbness in their ears, or any other somewhat odd areas?
I have numbness in the back of my head from the surgery, which hasn't really come back completely. It's the typical numbness, like when you go to the dentist and your mouth feels huge because you were numbed up. This numbness includes my left ear.
I also have 'numbness' in which I feel touch, but no temperature or pain sensation. I'm sure a lot of people out there with syringomyelia have this. This kind of numbness covers an area comparable to what a short cape would cover. It starts at my neck, and extends to just below my shoulder blades, about half way to my elbow on my left arm, about two inches below my left collar bone, and a narrow strip all the way down the top of my left arm into my hand. It's not as extensive on the right side.
One side of my head was numb for 5 months post my decompression surgery. Within the last month all the numbness went away. Hang in there, it takes time.