Face/head iniury

[VanillaChi02]

I was punched on the left side of my face about 3 wks ago while trying to apprehend an offender. It's still very tender and numb under the eye, on the cheek, the left side of my nose, upper lip and upper gum on the left. I went straight to the hospital from the incident and was given a cold-pack because my eye was really red and swollen. The dr's prognosis was "facial contusion" & I was given ibuprofen & that's it. I asked for an x-ray & the ER dr did not want to do the x-ray saying that it was too much radiation for the eyes & could increase chances of glaucoma & cataracts. I've seen 3 dr's since the incident, an opthalmologist, neurologist & orthopedic dr(cause i hurt my neck & upper back from fall)..& I've had an x-ray of the orbits, mri & ct-scan of face & brain. My face is still numb &hurts at times I don't sleep well at night. I can't blow out my left nostril & its hard to breathe thru it at times..it also feels like something in the left nostril but nothing is there. I have to use a q-tip to check cuz it hurts. I didn't get any discoloration under my eye but it did turn a little brown...its still really tender/painful to slightest touch & its the same issue with my nose & cheek along with it still being numb. I don't have my follow-ups with the neurologist& opthalmologist til this coming so  that they can tell me what's going on.  What could be wrong? Are there bone fragments..is that where these sharp pain zingers are coming from? What should I do in the meantime?  

[VanillaChi02]

Almost forgot.....I also told the dr that i can't blow my nose and I still don't sleep well at night.  He switched me from Gabapentin to Lyrica at 50mg per dose....take 1 at night before bed, 1 in the morning...building up to 3 times a day.  It was hard to function on 600mg of gabapentin with other dr's appt and & pt to go to  

[VanillaChi02]

Ok, I just saw the neurologist and he took a look at the film for my MRI and he looked at the ct-scan.....sitting in a chair in front of me just lifting the film toward the light. I asked him how did they look and he told me everything looked fine.  I told him something wasn't right because my nose is very tender to the touch and it's really sore under my left eye & on the left cheek.  I wear glasses so it takes me a while to get adjusted to wearing my glasses once i put them on cause it hurts.  I can't wear my contacts because it hurts to touch my eye.  This is a worker's compensation case so its hard at times to get good feedback from doctors. They'll give feedback but it the blow you off feedback so that something is written down for the notes.  It still should not matter when a dr sees a patient but in cases with my job, it happens a lot because (a) my job will hound a dr in sending employees back to work (b) it takes forever for them to get paid for their services.  I think I'm going to get a second opinion.

[VanillaChi02]

I will...and thank u!

[Londres70]

If that works for you, good.  

Keep us posted of your outcome with the physicians.

[VanillaChi02]

The neurotonin 300mg per capsule & he wants me to take 2 per day....he did say if it was too much for me where i was too sleepy, to drop down to 1 & take it before I go to bed.

[Londres70]

How many milligrams of Neurontin are you taking twice daily?  Usually it is 300 mg/day or 100 mg 3x/day=standard dose.  That's too bad you can't something for the inflammation.  
I don't think the tylenol w/codeine would have done anything for you except make you sleepy.

[VanillaChi02]

Yes I'm sorry the neuro dr gave me an Rx for gabapentin 2xs a day.  Its strong, so he told me if I have too many problems during the day since it makes me drowsy to take it before bed. I have to drive myself to all these appointments.  Another thing, i have GERD so I can't take ibuprofen...so I was a given an Rx for tylenol w/codeine.  The neurologist told me to stop taking that.

I am off from work to & I'm ambulatory.

[Londres70]

Well, I am assuming you are not working, so you can take it easy.  I would continue taking the ibuprofen; will help with any inflammation, try eating foods that are easy on your jaw muscles, no heavy lifting, etc.  

Secondly, no pain medication ordered for you?  You should have something specifically for nerve pain.

[VanillaChi02]

Yes it was work-related. Unfortunately, it's taking a little longer for me to get to my follow-ups because I'm seeing 3 different dr's & I have to do everything through my job...appts, scheduling, etc...so my appointments are being pushed further away.

My face feels like it's burning sometimes when it's cool outside...it's about 48-50 degrees & it also feels like something is crawling on it....the parts that are numb.  

I see the neurologist this coming wed to get the results of the MRI & ct-scan. I don't see the opthalmologist until the week after...that was the earliest for him.  I also get PT for an upper back and neck sprain...& my muscles are really tight & crampy in those areas..it's getting better

[Londres70]

Do you know the results of your scans?  Sounds like you definitely have facial nerve damage.  When do you see these physicians next?  

This happen at work/on the job?