Pain on BAHA abutment?

[danijake]

Does anyone have severe pain on the abutment when touched? I'm having a time brushing my hair, playing with my son, etc.

Please let me know of your experience with your abutment. The Dr said I shouldn't be having pain at all. Go figure.

Thanks,
   Dani

[leapyrtwins]

Dani -

sorry to hear you are having pain    I haven't heard of this; nor have I experienced it.

I'm almost 3 months post op and my head is still pretty numb from the BAHA surgery, though.  So maybe I'll have pain somewhere down the line. 

Is it the kind of pain that goes away with Tylenol or Advil?  or do you need something stronger to cope with it?  Besides your doctor saying you shouldn't have any pain, did he offer any suggestions about what to do about it?

Jan

[danijake]

Hi Jan,

I had BAHA surgery Feb. 11 this year. I also have the numbness, but it doesn't bother me much. I don't have to take anything for it as it only lasts for a few minutes.The pain hits when the abutment gets touched or hit. It resonates through my entire head and down my back. It's almost like touching a silver filling with aluminum foil...a sharp pain. My son and I were tickling each other tonight and he accidentally hit it with his head. I'll tell you it brought me to my knees fast!! And everytime I brush my hair I have to be careful not to touch it with the comb or brush. I get the same feeling.

No, the Dr didn't suggest anything and I didn't think to ask because he said I shouldn't be having any pain.

I hope you don't have any pain at all with yours--ever.

Thank you for the reply

Dani

[Joef]

I agree -- you should not be having pain 

are you wearing your processor yet ? I assume your site has healed up by now ?? do you have headache problems ?

[danijake]

I'm all healed up now, I think. I haven't worn my processor in a long time. I do have headaches--have since 3 weeks after AN surgery. When I wore the processor, my head hurt after about an hour or so each time. The sound is like someone talking through a tin can--for lack of a better explanation    Maybe my ENT wasn't as experienced as I thought. He said he'd done over 400 AN surgeries and I don't know how many bone conduction hearing aid surgeries. But, he's been in practice for over 25 years!

Thank you, Joef

Dani
 

[Joef]

yea, I understand the "tin can" reference .. I said it sounded like a AM radio .. (all hearings aids are not perfect)

after 2+ years now .. I dont even notice .. you get used to it ....

[sabuck]

Hi all,

There are many items contained in this one thread. I too had pain in the surrounding areas of the abutment for about 3 weeks post op. It even felt like my hair hurt if that makes sense to anyone. The good news is that it gets better. I am hardly feeling any pain at all now. I am not scheduled to get my Baha Intenso plugged in until July 3rd. I can't wait.

As for post AN surgery pain, I had headaches for 3-4 months. I didn't think that the headaches would ever stop. For those experiencing the same...hang in there cause it goes away. -steve

[sgerrard]

yea, I understand the "tin can" reference .. I said it sounded like a AM radio .. (all hearings aids are not perfect)

Even a regular hearing aid can sound like a tin can. Your hearing does adjust to it with time.

Dani, when you said it is like touching a filling in a tooth, it made me remember when I have had a sensitive tooth. For a while any contact would set it off. After a while, it just faded away. Maybe it is like that? It is possible with surgery for a nerve end to get "trapped" by the scar tissue, making it very sensitive. I think it usually fades away on its own, but if yours doesn't, they might be able to tweak something in the scar area?

Steve

[danijake]

I guess it is possible that a nerve is involved.

My hair 'hurts", too. But I'm getting used to it.

Jan, 
  Did they do skin grafts before they put the abutment on? They took the skin off and scraped the stuff that's between the skin and skull. Then they "built up around the area. So one square inch of my head is just skin and bone and that's where the abutment is. Maybe it is too close to the other screw in my skull causing the pain or I just have to get used to a new sensation?!

AM radio! yep.

Thanks so much!!

Dani

[leapyrtwins]

Dani -

I didn't have skin grafts.  The doc did thin the skin and scrape it.  He also took out something (tissue, maybe?) from around the hole where he placed the abutment.  At first the area was a little sunken in from the rest of my head, but with time, as it healed, the sunken area no longer exists - it's become flat.  My site sounds a lot like yours.

I, too, have screws from my AN surgery very close to the surface of the skin on my BAHA site, but the doc said if the heads of the screws pop up completely, he'll just unscrew and remove them. The closeness isn't causing me pain though.

Maybe like you say, there are nerves involved in this problem.  I know that originally I had a lot of itching post op and my doc said it was because of the nerves involved.

You might want to check with another doc who does BAHA surgeries and see what his take on the pain is.  I can't imagine this is something you will just get used to and if it's preventing you from wearing your processor, IMO it should be fixed in some way.

Jan

[Catflower]

I would definitely check with another doctor or get really assertive with the one who did the surgery.  You should not be having pain and IMO the doctor is being neglectful in not following up on this.

Linda in WV

[leapyrtwins]

I would definitely check with another doctor or get really assertive with the one who did the surgery.  You should not be having pain and IMO the doctor is being neglectful in not following up on this.

Linda in WV

Linda -

I think you are right.  Obviously this is a problem for Dani and her doctor should take it seriously and do something about it.  If he can't IMO he should refer her to someone who can; there has to be some solution.

Jan 

[danijake]

Thanks everyone. I'll call him Tues. And if he doesn't want to do anything about it, I'll go see another.

Thanks for the replies.

Dani

[gramps]

I had my BAHA surgery January 17.  I am not AN so I only have one screw in my head (thats enough).  I had significant pain for only 2 - 3 days after the surgery.  I still occasionally have "hair" pain but only when I attach my Intenso to the abutment.  It is as if the hair is being pulled;  I thought for a while I was trapping hair with the snap, but I don't believe that is the case.  I had numbness around the abutment until just a few days ago, like 4 months.  The Intenso on my right ear is a big help, for example when driving the car, I can hear my wife.   However, I still have a problem in noisy restaurants, etc.   I have excellent hearing in my good ear, but I believe the Intenso bombs it with so much noise in crowds that it drowns out the voices of those at my table.

Gramps

[leapyrtwins]

Thanks everyone. I'll call him Tues. And if he doesn't want to do anything about it, I'll go see another.

Thanks for the replies.

Dani

Good luck, Dani, and let us know what happens.  I'm hopeful you will find a solution to the pain and I'm also curious to find out what might be causing it.

Jan