A Dr I met with today said that these procedures ALWAYS cause permant numbness for life…I feel like that’s not true…what has your experience been? Thank you
It has for me but I already had permanent numbness from the surgery years ago. The one thing they didn't tell me was that it could cause burning, SEVERE burning. So bad that you can't touch your face. I'm now dealing with that on top of the shocks. For the first month, I felt wonderful, then the burning started now nothing seems to help it.
The published practice standard of the International Association for Radio Surgery (IRSA) indicates that when Gamma Knife is used in neuropathic facial pain, about half of all initially successful patients relapse into pain within three years. So I'd have to say that permanent numbness for life isn't confirmed by at least one of the professional associations in the field. That said, long lasting numbness is the most commonly reported side effect of both radio surgery and MVD. A good many patients find it bothersome but still preferable to the pain of TN or ATN itself.
One other and worse form of "numbness" seems to occur in up to 4% of MVD operations. Surface tactile numbness to touch can be combined with an underlying constant burning that doesn't respond well to most medications. It's called anesthesia dolorousa. [see, for instance, papers by Tew and Taha in the late 1990s].
Be aware that there are papers in the medical literature that suggest Gamma Knife and Cyber Knife aren't being used as often these days as initially, perhaps as a result of the poor persistence of positive effects.
Regards, Red
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Thanks Red for your post Cyber Knife and Gamma Knife. Your information is always helpful.