Facial changes after surgery, percacet related?

[bman3082]

Hey guys,

So i had my surgery with dr rahal on the 8th, 3083 grafts to my frontal third. 

Now  im like 5 months post op and the swelling is pretty much gone, but i was in a ton of pain in the donor after surgery so i asked for 8 percacets instead of the 4 they give you. 

My eyes seem to have literally lost the fat underneath and they look super sunken in and wrinkly at the bottom, super evident in comparison pics the between the day before my op and today. 

 

My fear is that taking the extra pain meds messed up my face or the anisthetic drainage did something because i deffs look different. 

 

My hope is that this is somehow apart of the process and the eyes revert to normal. Anyone ever have this happen, and how long until things go back to normal?

 

thanks, really worried right now

[Melvin- Admin]

Can you post pictures? For comparison 

[pkipling]

Have you asked anyone in your life if they notice a difference as well? Posting the pictures here for us to see would be helpful, but if you have close friends or family members that can also weigh in to see if this is more exaggerated in your mind or if it's noticeable to others.

I would also speak to your doctor/GP about this. I think the likelihood that taking a relatively small number of pain pills having this effect is very small. It's not like you were abusing medication for months and years on end, so this may warrant a trip to the doctor to have it checked out and see what other underlying causes there could be. 

[bman3082]

33 minutes ago, pkipling said:

Have you asked anyone in your life if they notice a difference as well? Posting the pictures here for us to see would be helpful, but if you have close friends or family members that can also weigh in to see if this is more exaggerated in your mind or if it's noticeable to others.

I would also speak to your doctor/GP about this. I think the likelihood that taking a relatively small number of pain pills having this effect is very small. It's not like you were abusing medication for months and years on end, so this may warrant a trip to the doctor to have it checked out and see what other underlying causes there could be. 

I talked to dr rahal and he said it’s deffs not from the painkilers and is most likely just micro swelling related to the procedure itself since it’s only been 5 days. 

 

I wanna post pics but it’s of my eyes so need to edit them. There is a huge difference, no imagination here. 

Just wondering how long it took everyone to see their face to return completely to normal?

 

thanks

[JohnRoss]

After my Rahal surgery I swelled like nothing else. I remember it being 2 or 3 weeks before my face looked normal again.

[bman3082]

On 8/14/2018 at 7:14 PM, JohnRoss said:

After my Rahal surgery I swelled like nothing else. I remember it being 2 or 3 weeks before my face looked normal again.

Wow really eh 2-3 weeks?? Damn okay that definitely helps. 

 

I’ve attached some photos for comparison but i guess yeah it looks like some swelling. Do you think that’s just from the anasthetic of from the trauma of the surgery as well?

First photovis healthy me, second is today 5 days post op. Same room, same everything, lighting might be slightly off due to weather outside but deffs a difference. Scary cause the swelling on the rest of my face is almost gone and the swelling under the eyes is so minor it looks almost like the fat the just went away and just sagged out of my face  

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by literalno

[pkipling]

23 hours ago, literalno said:

I talked to dr rahal and he said it’s deffs not from the painkilers and is most likely just micro swelling related to the procedure itself since it’s only been 5 days. 

 

I wanna post pics but it’s of my eyes so need to edit them. There is a huge difference, no imagination here. 

Just wondering how long it took everyone to see their face to return completely to normal?

 

thanks

If it's only been 5 days then you definitely shouldn't be worrying. In the original post you said 5 months, which made it seem much more problematic. The fact that you reached out to Dr. Rahal and he also said not to worry is a good sign. Give it time. You just went through a surgery and had thousands of tiny holes punched into your scalp, so give your body time to bounce back and heal itself. 

[bman3082]

18 hours ago, pkipling said:

If it's only been 5 days then you definitely shouldn't be worrying. In the original post you said 5 months, which made it seem much more problematic. The fact that you reached out to Dr. Rahal and he also said not to worry is a good sign. Give it time. You just went through a surgery and had thousands of tiny holes punched into your scalp, so give your body time to bounce back and heal itself. 

LOL woops did not realize i said 5 months, yeah im about a week post op today, and my eyes are pretty much healed. One thing though is that it seems like my scabs are bunching together leaving large spaces without grafts. It looks like far less grafts than 3000 to be honest so im kinda unsure wha'ts happening 

[gillenator]

The swelling you experienced is very "par for the course" and it occurs frequently if there is work on the hairline.  Also, it's related to the fluids that were injected into the scalp and the effects of gravity pulling the fluids down into the forehead area.

The scabs are probably the crusting that develops.  They are the tips of the grafts that dry up...it's dead tissue above the scalp line.

Take a look at your post-op instructions which will inform you when and how to remove them in roughly 12-14 days post-op.