Mohs Surgery: Q&A
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Numbness and Scarring After Mohs Surgery
I am a 48 yr old woman who had Mohs Sx 2 weeks ago. The incision begins at the top of the nose beside the left eye and goes down the left side of the nose and across the tip of the nose. A large portion of my nose is numb and the scarring is not pretty. Am I jumping the gun, or will my results get better? I am not ready to wear this nose even at my age. Thank you
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10 Doctor Answers |
Asked by
christina in ky
in Louisville, KY
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Healing after Mohs surgery
You are certainly reasonable to have concerns given the location but like others who have answered the question I will emphasize that 2 weeks after surgery is far too soon to judge the final results. Several aspects about scars improve over the first few weeks to months and often up to a year after surgery. These include: redness, bumpiness, numbness, visibility.
Occasionally your surgeon may feel there is some benefit to "touch-up" procedures after the...
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Duration of Numbness and Wound Healing after Surgery
It takes 6-12 months to get the final result after any surgery so you may be a little early to be concerned. Numbness is also common and disappears in about 90% of patients. If your cancer was particularly large or deep or involved larger branches of sensory nerves, the likelihood of complete recovery will be less. You might talk to your doctor about treatment options to improve the final cosmetic result. This might include silicone gel products or dermabrasion 2-3 months after surgery.
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Your body needs time to heal
With time, your scar will improve and most likely your sensation will also return.
Healing can take up to two years... but hopefully you will feel more confident after 2-3 months.
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Scars take time to improve after Mohs reconstruction
You have a healthy anxiety about the appearance of your nose but surgery wounds and scars take more than a year to improve. Numbness quite commonly improves over time with the onset of tingling or "crawling" sensations that develop over many months. The dorsal nasal advancement rotation flap you seem to have undergone is a very commonly performed reconstruction for nasal tip defects to minimize the distortion of the tip. There is a displacement of skin from the...
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Lack of sensation after Mohs surgery
It is very common to cut superficial sensory nerves after Mohs surgery. In most cases, they do come back, but may take time, even as long as 6 to 8 months. With respect to the scar, be patient, It has only been two weeks. It Will get better. I would wait 6 to 8 months before doing anything with the scar. Dr. Behnam.
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Numbness and scarring after Mohs micrographic surgery
It is not uncommon to have localized numbness after Mohs micrographic surgery. The good news is that numbness typically resolves after 3-6 months as there are redundancy in sensory nerve endings. It helps to minimize numbness and scarring with steady circular massage in affected area 4 weeks after surgery, 10 times every 6-8 hours.
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Mohs
I would give it at least 6months. There are many easy things which can improve this type of scar. As for sensation, it may take many weeks for it to return and you may have some long standing sensation loss.
Dr. Malouf
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Scarring and numbness after Mohs surgery
The final appearance of the repair occurs between 6-12 months following the procedure. The tendency is for gradual improvement over that time-frame. As one of the responders mentioned, if after 6 months to 1 year you are unhappy with the final appearance, consider consulting with your facial plastic surgeon for treatment options including kenalog (cortisone) injections, dermabrasion, surgical scar revision.
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Scarring after Mohs surgery
It usually takes 6 months for a scar to reach it's least noticable stage. So 2 weeks is too early. Numbness is common but typically resolves as well. Not a bad idea to discuss with plastic surgeon though.
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Be patient
If it has only been 2 weeks since your surgery, it is still very early in the healing process. It sounds and sort of looks like you had a dorsal nasal flap. That is a big flap that will invariably affect some of the nerves giving sensation to the nose. Usually within 2-3 months, the sensation returns; so your numbness is not atypical with this repair.
As for the cosmesis of your nose, be patient as well. There are several things that your surgeon...
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Frisco Dermatologic Surgeon
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