Headaches after a Craniotomy

[Hedreamsofme07]

I had 2 craniotomies in Feb/March of 2003 to remove a pseudo-tumor from the front lobe. I have srcews holding in a bone plate. i never really suffered from many headaches or had other symptoms. Since the surgeries I experience almost daily severe headaches and numbness and tingling from time to time. My neurologist has been treating me for the last 3 years with the same results, nothing to ease the headaches. He is not the dr who did my surgery. I have even gone back to a neurosurgeon to see if possibly the screws or bone plate could be causing these symptoms. He also said everything was fine and there was nothing else to be done. For the 1st year after the surgeries I was in the ER at least 4-5 times a week, where they would administer Morphine injections. I have been on at least 12 different medications and none help for more than a short period of time. I find the only thing to relieve the headaches is Excedrin Migraine. What can be the cause of these symptoms and what can I possibly do to find a cure for this? The numbess and tingling occur on the right side of my face every couple of months and it's the same side as the surgeries.  

[Duck16]

Has anyone done a high density CT scan of the to for SSCD? This may account for the heart beat I the ear.  

[westie26]

Hi, my husband had his second left temporal lobe craniotomy March 2012, both were to remove astrocytomas. Since surgery he has had constant head, jaw, and ear pain. He describes it as a "brain freeze" or "stabbing, burning" pain at its peak, but he has a constant ache all the time. He also has swelling at the incision sight when the pain in uncontrollable. His eye has even swollen shut on several occasions. His ear hurts also when the pain gets bad, he says he can hear "sloshing" and his heartbeat in his ear. We have seen numerous doctors/specialists. He has tried numerous drugs from narcotics to nerve medicines and a nerve block. Nothing works. The only thing that will at least take the edge off is the narcotics...he doesn't want to keep taking them for the rest of his life.
No one can tell us what's going on. We have MRIs every 3 months, and many CTs. He has had to go to the ER on numerous times to get some relief, which is usually dilaudid. I am constantly reading blogs and forums, I know he's not the ONLY one with these issues. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...best place for treatment, certain doctors...anything!! PLEASE!

[Eddie1994]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by RF treatment?
Thank you.

[Aioo]

Hello,
Do you still have the pain?
my dad has the same problem however MRI scans do not show any sign. I've done some research and the right treatment might be RF however you might need to have certain conditions.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Removal of the screws from the bone plate warrants further evaluation by your attending physician. This may lead to various symptoms such as pain but further evaluation may need to be done to rule out organic causes especially if not all the tumor was removed four years ago. Have this checked by your doctor for proper evalaution. Imaging studies such as CT scan or MRI are important in visualizing the structures that are affected. Take care and do keep us posted.

[spunkyhall]

i had a right frontal crainonomy in sep 07..bone plate w screws.to remove an astrocytoma II   , so they only got 90% of the tumor, so it will grow back stage 3..my husband and i  live in maine and we have to go to boston for the best care..next mo i have an appt down there to have mri, see cancer doc and neurosurgeon..the pins in my plate have gradually unscrewded.rejected like, out of the plate..make weird points on my forehead /side of head..i have had 2 other surgeries where the 'foreion' metal..had to be taken out ( screwws in foot, and another so called perment wires in my foot, and a 'permanent' tube in my ear..also had to be taken out..I have been suffering for so long with headackes so severe that i too went to er..nausea//vomit..headaches..now i've lost 30lbs and nobody knows why..i too havent seen my neurosergion since 07..i pray that this is causing these headaches..i dont want to mask a real problem with serious pain killers..also had 2 other seizures last month..but it's frustrating normal blood work?? ahh all i know is my husband and  kids need a better life instead of mommy ALWAYS being in pain.sooo: could the screws coming out of the plate cause this serious of sickness?? i'd even do another surgry to fix it..