Calling all Baha users!!!Have questions

[tenai98]

Had follow up today and all looks well....I have to keep a dressing on for another 3 weeks...so my question is did you remove if you had one, your dressing prior to a shower? or left it on and use the cup?  The nurse gave me extra dressing and I have a nurse that will be making house calls on Mon, Wed and Fridays to change my dressing.  Also when did you NOT have to put a dressing on wound? My healing cap comes off in three weeks...My follow up MRI is at end of Oct....Also the nurse said not to put anything on wound....I realize all are different, so when did you apply anti bioitc ointment?
I posted pics on my facebook...I wont post the pics here cuz I dont want to scare ppl away from the procedure...there is really no pain...my head is still numb.....but I am itching..
JO

[Sefra22]

Hey Jo,
Yes, every experience is certainly different! I had my dressing removed the second day, and then started using the antibiotic ointment immediately after.

I did have to put a cup ( I used one of those large size laundry detergent caps) over the area to wash my hair, I did that for about a week, then I could wash it normally.

As for the numbness, I am still a "numbskull" even after 5 months. It's definitely gotten better with time, but I'm not sure if it ever completely normal.

The itching gets better, too

Lisa

[JerseyGirl2]

This is definitely one of those procedures in which every doctor seems to do things differently. As best as I can remember, the dressings from both my AN translab procedure and BAHA implant came off a day or so before I left the hospital (this would have been about 4 days after surgery ... and I had the BAHA implant done at the same time as my surgery). I think I had a very small pad on one of the sites until the day before I flew back East and have had nothing else since. I think I put a little Neosporin on the BAHA site for a day or two while I was still in L.A.

I was convinced that my head was going to be permanently numb! But then little by little the numbness decreased -- at first it was the whole side of my head, then just an extended area around my BAHA abutment, and finally -- at about a year and a half post-surgery (maybe a little less) -- the numbness disappeared. The best benchmark for me was going to my hairdresser (I get coloring and highlights about every six weeks or so). For the first months, it took a real effort not to cringe whenever she touched that side of my head -- it didn't hurt, but it just didn't feel "right." Now when I go, it's almost as though this AN stuff never happened (except for the crevices and lumps on that side of my head). She's careful not to touch the abutment, but if she forgets and accidentally hits it with a brush or her hand, it's not that big a deal. Just keep waiting -- the numbness will eventually subside!

Catherine (JerseyGirl2)

[leapyrtwins]

I was able to remove my BAHA "hat" (the large mastoid bandage) 24 hours post op.  At that point, I could shampoo by holding a cup over the bandage that was held in place by the small, white, plastic cap.  One week later, my doc removed the cap and the bandage and I was able to shampoo normally. 

Once the bandage and cap were removed, he also told me to start putting ointment (bacitracin, neosporin, or polysporin) on the BAHA site. 

Everyone's doc has different instructions - and Jo your doctor seems to do things very differently than doctors here in the States - so you might want to call him to see what he wants you to do.

The numbness will last a long time - the itching will drive you crazy, but only lasts a short time.

Happy healing,

Jan