The best way to do a Lip Biop

[kindandcaring]

Just had my Lip Biop..and phew it was a breeze...only a little bit uncomfortable.

Had it done by a Prof who has been slicing and dicing for 30 years.

He told me the way it should be carried out to avoid nerve damage.

He used a mircro scope with me on my back, head wedged..
Lip rolled back by his assistant and held out of his way by a clamp.

He squeezes around to 'feel' the salivary glands...like nodules.
He makes a small (millimetres) cut..and then pushes the gland out of the cut...this way he avoids any nerve damage..(he does not go deep)
He then slices a thin slither of the gland for biopsy...done...within 1 hour I was eating withoutany pain and with all the feeling I had before the biop.

In all his career he has never damaged a nerve.

I think his method is the go.

My Best

[lori]

wow- mine was awful- in the chair over an hour and i had more pain afterward than i did when i had my gallbladder surgery. it still feels wierd inside my lip- i feel scar tissue and it feels like it draws up- wish i had had your experience.

lori

[SueAnn]

I thought you were going to say...  not to have one .  Mine was horrible, but I did lose 10 pounds.


Sue Ann

[Billydude]

Mine was a breeze as well and preformed by someone who does them every day.   The key is to make sure you get it by someone VERY experienced in it.   If you doc only does them "occasionally" don't do it.

[cport]

I had my tonsils out under ENT in june this year and they did the biopsy while i was under general. The thing is i've just seen the maxilo facial specialist and they want to do another one as ENT did mine in the wrong place and didn't take enough salivary glands. They took the biopsy from the right hand side of my mouth and i'm now numb on  that side. Maxilo facial say the biopsy should be done on the centre of the mouth. If that ends up numb to i'm going to look really strange x

[kindandcaring]

Hi All Posters !

As Billydude says and as I highlighted in my first post, if you have to have a lip biopsy then you must get someone who has a lot of experience.

The 'slicer and dicer' I had is natively an eye surgeon with 30 years of doing lip biops..
Yet for me the only reason still I let him do me was the fact he has never damaged anyones nerves...that gave me confidence.!
And it was founded.

The bottom line is..he knows how to do it without causing damage.
Thats the kinda guy you need.
So if anyone is up for a lip biop...do your research on the surgeon who is to perform the procedure

..is he up to scratch ?

[Patze]

Hi K&C,

I'm glad that your biopsy went well, and I'll keep the fingers crossed that the you'll get an answer soon.

I understand that most people that have had one done have had very few problems, if any; then there are some folks that have had ones not so well done, like mine.  I too thought I had an ENT that was very experienced (so he told me), but it went wrong from start to finish.  Now the ENT may have a lot of experience doing this procedure, but my bottom lip still has numb area several years later.  I too wish I had had your experience.

Take care -

Patze

[lynnmarie219]

K&C,

Glad to hear of your good experience with your lip biopsy! I am another one who had an very experienced doctor do mine and came through the procedure fine with no lasting problems and a positive biopsy.

Let us know when you hear about your results!

[kindandcaring]

Hi Patze

Just wondering if you got a result from lip biop for all the troubles.

My Best

[Patze]

Hi K&C,

Yeah, got a "report" of sorts.  The report said that the sample was negative, but then mentioned some infiltration of the glands.  Say what (I thought that was the whole point of the test?)?  

There wasn't a "scale" on the report so there was nothing that I could compare with, and the doctor was no help (same doctor that did the biopsy as I was getting the stitches taken out that day anyway (three weeks after the procedure)).  I've since learned (thank you SJS World!) that it depends on how great the infiltration is, and I guess that the infiltration in my glands probably wasn't enough to rule a "positive".  

And it's funny as the current rheumy wants me to repeat this test, and you know my answer to that - ah, no (not that politely either)! 

Take care -

Patze

[kindandcaring]

Patze

I can understand totally after that whole episode that you wouldnt want to go thru that again.

When you said you had stitches, made me shiver. The cut in my lip was so small I had no stitches at all.

makes me cross to think that there are so many 'butchers' out there.
There should be a 'Standard Procedure' on how to do this by now....so these butchers get forced to change or get booted out of the system. However Regulating Doctors is always going to prove difficult.

[Patze]

Hi K&C,

Yeah, my scar is about an inch long and is jagged, and it took four silk stitches to close, go figure.    Thankfully, the ENT I currently see is on the cautious side, and is a lot more thorough than Dr. Stitches.

Wow, no stitches?  Lucky you!!!  Can you tell that I'm so jealous?   

Take care -

Patze

[kindandcaring]

Patze
Those darn BAD Doctors....makes me angry this happened to you.
....it shouldnt happen....no Doctor seems to follow any standards for what should be a standard procedure...I just dont get why ...

Factories follow quality standards to make food otherwise they could cause us harm..why not standards for Doctors !

Grrrrrrrr

[rnathans]

I want to share my experience with you regarding the reading of the biopsy. After my lip biopsy ( a horrible experience) the lab read it as negative.  A few months later a rheumy at another hospital asked me to have the lab send her the tissue from my biopsy and she had her lab read it and look at it herself. She found one and possibly 2 infiltrates and stated that she was quite certain I had Sjogren's. Her reasoning was 1. There was no other explanation for why I should have any infiltrates and 2. infiltrates are spotty. Depending on where you sample, how you cut the tissue for the slides you can miss it ( not because of incompetence, just because this gland may have it, that one may not, or the spots are on a different part of the gland that you sampled). I have a feeling my doctor would consider your biopsy to be indicative of Sjogren' even though you (like me) did not hit the magic number.
Ruth

Hi K&C,

Yeah, got a "report" of sorts.  The report said that the sample was negative, but then mentioned some infiltration of the glands.  Say what (I thought that was the whole point of the test?)?  

There wasn't a "scale" on the report so there was nothing that I could compare with, and the doctor was no help (same doctor that did the biopsy as I was getting the stitches taken out that day anyway (three weeks after the procedure)).  I've since learned (thank you SJS World!) that it depends on how great the infiltration is, and I guess that the infiltration in my glands probably wasn't enough to rule a "positive".  

And it's funny as the current rheumy wants me to repeat this test, and you know my answer to that - ah, no (not that politely either)! 

Take care -

Patze

[kindandcaring]

Thanks for sharing your experience Ruth.

Very interesting..there are so many variables with Autoimmune diagnosis let alone treatment.


I wonder how long they keep the samples in storage ?