* Omitted essential part of operation
There are different ways to address the platysma, but ALL of them, pertaining to MY situation, would have necessitated the RELEASE of this muscle, as depicted in the diagram below.
Failure to perform this crucial step of my operation, combined with the placement of his “split” in the SMAS, his midline platysma plication, without benefit of any release whatsoever, SHORTENED this muscle sheath in the vertical dimension. This resulted in the immediate post operative difficulty of waking from anesthesia UNABLE TO BREATHE because my tongue was pulled down to obstruct my airway. This surgery literally cut pulled and fixed the soft tissue of my face and neck with such extreme force that I was unable to close my jaw with my head and neck in a neutral position FROM DAY ONE.
Photos ABOVE taken 1 month post op with face in repose: Tension pulls the entire jaw down and back, with force extreme enough to pull the entire ear cartilage forward (NOT just the lobe). This is not due to scar formation as many doctors have since opined. Scar tissue does not form in less than one month. I could not lift my head, close my jaw, breathe or swallow normally since the day of my operation. In the photo where I am forcing my jaw closed, I was only able to stay in that position for a few seconds, because I could not breathe.
Compare with photo taken before surgery where I am fully able to extend my neck, close my jaw. You cannot FAKE such malposition of the jaw.
Before Revision 1 Month After 6 Years After
(Note: Photo taken before revision was not taken intentionally in this position. I just stretched my neck before positioning myself for a straight profile photo when the photographer snapped this unexpectedly. While I have ample video showing my normal range of motion, this was taken with a 35 mm camera, (as were all these photos) and the negatives were examined by a professional photographer who documented them as “free of any digital manipulation”).
Retraction of the mandible is obvious. You cannot FAKE this. Note position of the EAR in relation to other anatomical landmarks. Of course, I cannot BREATHE with my neck extended in this manner. Post nasal secretions go directly into the airway because they bypass the gag reflex and thus produce a “silent” aspiration. While choking is the body’s safety mechanism to prevent aspiration of the contents in the oral cavity, post nasal secretions track down the back of the pharynx and do not trigger the gag reflex. Therefore, normal post nasal secretions are aspirated without warning from intact gag reflex. It is impossible to expel this because my abnormally damaged/displaced anatomy prevents the ability to produce sufficient pressure behind a cough to expel these secretions.
Stumble It!
