Can Damage or Compression of the Great Auricular Nerve Cause Tightness/Numbness Post Surgery?

Injuries to
the greater auricular nerve can definitely cause numbness of the earlobe and
upper neck region. This injury is usually always noted immediately following
surgery. The onset of numbness seven months following surgery makes greater
auricular nerve injury unlikely.Under these circumstances, your
tightness and numbness are probably related to swelling, wound healing and scar
formation. For this reason it’s important to consult your plastic surgeon. Your
surgeon can hopefully determine the cause of your symptoms and institute
appropriate treatment.

It is fairlycommon for patients to experience temporary numbness on both side of their facefollowing a facelift surgery. During the skin flap elevation and the surgicaldissection some of the small sensory nerves to the skin must be transected inorder to tighten the facial muscle. These nerves will regenerate over timeanywhere between 6 weeks up to a year. Damage to Greater Auricular nerve causes immediate post operative numbness to the earlobe and around the ears.It would take up to a year or two to have regeneration of the nerve and return of sensation. Numbness starting 7 months post facelift surgery may caused by suture granuloma applying compressing on the Greater Auricular Nerve.

     The great auricular nerve provides sensation to the earlobe and the numbness would be noticed after surgery and should not arise 7 months later.  I would recommend an exam by your plastic surgeon.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

The greater auricular nerve is a sensory nerve that supplies sensation around the earlobe and the jawline area. Injury to this nerve would manifest immediately after the surgery in the form of loss of sensation in these areas.

So, your delayed symptoms are not likely to be related to an injury to this nerve. Instead, these symptoms may well be related to wound-healing and scar maturation which typically does occur several months after the surgery. Gentle massage, lymphatic massage or ultrasound therapy may be helpful in improving the feeling of tightness. Any numbness that you are feeling may well have been present earlier after the surgery but not been as noticeable to you at that time. 

Injury to the GAN typically manifests immediately after surgery, not months after.  There is no imaging that can detect the problem and no treatment that can make the nerve regenerate faster, but sensory nerves do continue to regenerate for years after the injury