Plate or No Plate?

I recently spoke to someone who also had MVD surgery, but did not have a plate in his head. 10+ years later I still wake up screaming from the pain of my head touching my pillow. He had no head pain at all, so it got me wondering, for those of you out there without a plate, how did they cover the hole in your skull from the surgery? Also, who with a plate has head pain, and who without one does not? I'm beginning to wonder how much of my problem is the plate, and not the surgery. Would welcome any input!

I had my surgery 5yrs ago and have a titanium mesh, not a plate. They explained to me at the time that the hole they make is much smaller than it used to be. (That was 5 years ago.)

I do get shooting pain there on occasion if I touch it the wrong way, while bent over, or from extremes in temperature.

Once I bumped an electric fence with my behind and boy did I feel that mesh! For months after I had little shock sensations there at random times.

Seriously though, the key question is: Are you still having GPN symptoms?