Trigeminal Neuralgia – Post procedure Follow-Up

I am home now after the follow-up visit to the University of Iowa. I was able to report to them I have had not had any pain in my right cheek and jaw. I did have to tell them there was actually numbness in my upper lip and around my eye on my right side. I told them this was mostly a nuisance. I was very happy that I have not had any pain.

I asked about the chances of pain returning. I was told this happens in about 20% of the cases. The nerve can regenerate and if it does I may have to have the procedure again. Of course this may take years to show up. I told the doctor I gave it an A minus. This was because of the extra numbness we were trying to avoid. The doctor was very funny and pounded on the desk saying he wanted an A+.

I find my speech is slurred a little bit due to the numbness in my upper lip. Also I have to chew much slower. That’s probably a good thing anyway. So for now the procedure was a success!