Having some issues after my surgery.....help please

[TXMomOfFaith]

I had my surgery on Tuesday and was discharged from the hospital Wednesday afternoon. Ever since the surgery a large area directly above the incision has been completely numb to the touch. Is this normal?
Also on one side my neck and up behind that ear, when the skin is pressed on it feels like bubbles popping. I called the dr and told him about it and he put me on antibiotics. I didn't ask what it was caused by  and forgot to mention the numbness!!! I called back and left message but nobody has returned my phone call. I am kinda freaking out, can anyone shed some light on this?

[Jalder]

The "popping" sensation is called crepitus and is a result of air being under the skin.  The probable cause of this is a drain and it usually subsides after a few days.  I am 10 months postop TT and neck dissection and have complete numbness of my neck as a result of damage to nerves.  Your numbness may not be permanent - give it a month or two to recover sensation.

J.

[TXMomOfFaith]

Does anybody know about the popping feeling under the skin? It feels like gas bubbles or rice crispies. The doctor put me on antibiotics for it but I forgot to ask what it was and why the antibiotics.

[Thypatient]

I too had a lot pf numbness.  My surgeon had explained to my husband about how he had to pull back, go behind...do this and that, whatever.  I figure the numbness had something to do with all the maneuvering.  It has slowly subsided over time.

I would definitely keep monitoring yours and call the dr (it’s good you did that) if anything seems off.

Take care.

[kipland]

As far as the numbness goes, I believe that's normal.  Actually, the area above my scar is numb and it's been a little over a year since surgery.  I don't know about the bubbles popping, though.

[TXMomOfFaith]

Well the numbness is more on the side that they put the drain tube so perhaps they did put more numbing meds there?

[Lucy35]

Sorry I am off to bed shortly but I am guessing you had some kind of thyroid surgery. I had my thyroid out in July and a few hours after surgery my neck started to go numb then it travelled up to my jaw and ears. The doctors didn't seem to be bothered about it and thinking about it the 1st time I had the left half of my thyroid out I was in real pain and when I told them about this when I had the other half out in July the anaesthetist said, oh right I'll make sure I give you a good dose of anaesthetic round your scar. My numbness lasted about 2 days after so in the absence of anyone telling me anything I put it down to the amount of anaesthetic they injected around the cut. May be an answer for you?

[ontheedge050]

Hmmmm. Do you know if they did somekind of nerve block when they did your surgery? Other than that I'm not sure why you would still have numbness. I guess there's always a chance that they nicked a nerve.

[Lucy35]

What surgery did you have?