Not every injury on the face, lips, or tongue necessarily requires surgery. However, in some cases, treatment can only be administered by surgical intervention. We share with you those who are curious about facial, lip and tongue injuries and surgical interventions.
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What Are Facial Injuries?
Sometimes, surgery can become a mandatory option, especially in facial injuries caused by severe trauma. In case of fractures in the facial bones, surgical interventions are sought to ensure the correct positioning and union of the fracture. At the same time, microsurgical methods come into play in cases such as facial nerve injuries and salivary gland duct injuries. Facial injuries may require surgical repair of not only bones but also tissues. However, we can say that surgical operations are mostly performed due to bone fractures.
How is Facial Fractures Surgery Performed?
Surgery for facial fractures can be planned differently for each patient. Factors such as the type of bone fractures, which facial parts they affect, whether they are fragmented or whether they affect facial functions can also be decisive in the procedure of the surgery. Most of the facial fracture surgeries are performed under general anesthesia. We can say that local anesthesia is preferred only in some simple operations.
Depending on the location of the fracture, it can be entered through the mouth or through the scalp. The fracture area can be reached from the inner part of the lower or upper lip, the side of the eyes, over the eyebrows or under the chin. In the surgery, the fracture lines are brought end to end and the fractures are fixed with plate screws. In nose injuries, it is possible to perform the operation with an open or closed technique.
Plate and screw systems are frequently used in facial bone fractures. Some of these are removed after a while, while others are permanently placed on the fracture line for life. Pain or ache are not felt during the surgery, but after the effect of the anesthesia wears off, there may be mild pain in the area of the bone fracture that was intervened. Most of the time, we can say that these pains are not very severe and do not trouble the patients.
What Are the Risks and Complications?
There are some risks and complications in all surgeries, and we should state that there may be risks such as infection, bleeding, problems with the union of fractures or facial nerve injuries in facial bone fractures. If an experienced surgeon is preferred, it is possible to minimize these risks in surgeries. In rare nerve injuries, there may be numbness in the lower lip and chin area. The occurrence of taste and sensation problems in the tongue is also among the risks. Also, there may be working defects in the facial muscles, which may prevent some gestures. Most of the nerve injuries heal within 1 year, but sometimes this situation can be permanent.
In facial trauma, there may also be problems with the contraction of the muscles that provide eye movements. Sometimes, visual disturbances may be caused by trauma rather than surgery. The extent of the fracture is also a factor that determines the risks. One of the frequently asked questions is the risk of vision loss. Vision loss is a very rare risk. The thought that there will be vision loss in every facial fracture surgery does not reflect the truth. Sometimes, teeth may break during injury. Especially in cases of hard blows to the mouth, tooth loss problems may occur. In such cases, when the postoperative recovery is completed, the treatments applied by the dentist to eliminate the missing tooth problem can be used.
Lip Injuries Surgery
In the case of lip injuries, surgery is not required very often. Simple surgical interventions can be made in order to repair the tissues in cases such as traffic accidents and ruptured lip tissues. Tissue loss due to injury may also occur. In such cases, repairment can be achieved with tissue taken from a different part of the body. Sometimes, it may be sufficient to apply only stitches in lip injuries. Stitches are placed on the torn lip region for faster healing and union in the tissues.
Tongue Injury/Tear And Treatment
Tongue is one of the most sensitive tissues of the body. This sensitivity in the tongue, which has the effect of a magnifying glass, also offers important benefits. Tongue problems can manifest themselves clearly in many different functions. Injury or tear in the tongue causes the person to experience various difficulties while speaking, tasting, chewing, swallowing and even breathing. Although it is thought that it does not happen very often, injuries can also occur in the tongue due to various reasons. One of the most common among these injuries is tears.
What Causes Tongue Tear?
Common causes of tongue tear are traffic accidents, falls from height, and sports injuries. In case of a hard blow to the face and facial trauma, small or large-scale tears may occur in the tongue. Of course, the causes of tongue tear are not limited to these. We can say that this result may occur in the following situations:
- Having an epileptic seizure
- Occurrence of oral trauma during intubation
- Self-harm
- Occurrence of injuries during electroconvulsive therapy
- Electronic cigarette explosions
We should also mention that first aid is extremely important in tongue injuries. It is necessary to apply pressure to the wound with a clean cloth or gauze. This pressure to stop the bleeding can take effect in a short time. It is also necessary not to swallow the blood accumulating in the mouth, but to spit it out. We must underline that immediate medical attention is of the utmost importance.
Are Stitches Always Used in Tongue Injury?
Depending on the condition of the injury in the tongue, stitches may be required. The purpose of this is to ensure that the healing in the tongue takes place correctly most of the time. This operation, which is performed with a surgical method, ensures that the union ofthe tongue tissues is correct and thus, it is aimed to prevent future dysfunctions due to tongue injury. Especially in cases where the wound edges are rough, there are two wounds crossing each other, the tear in the tongue is not small, or there is a tear in the tongue due to an animal bite, suture application will definitely be required.
How Is Tongue Injury Treated?
First of all, the area should be cleaned hygienically. If there is a foreign body stinging in the tongue, this body should be removed by the doctor. Afterwards, the suturing process can be started. In some cases, it is necessary to repair the tongue tissue with surgery. However, all these medical interventions are performed under anesthesia and thus the person is prevented from feeling pain or pain. Antibiotic medication is also required after surgical intervention. The reason is to prevent a possible infection problem. It is also important to pay attention to the care of the tongue region. Because the stitches in the tongue may tear and bleeding may occur. For this reason, special attention should be paid to nutrition and the doctor’s recommendations and warnings should be taken into account.
In case of possible swelling, bleeding, bruising or bursting of the stitches, you should contact your doctor immediately. You should also contact your doctor in case of infection symptoms such as high fever, chills, and foul-smelling discharge from the wound area. The regular use of prescribed drugs is of great importance in order to get through the recovery period without any problems. You can write your questions about face, lip and tongue injury surgery in the comment section below.