I had 2 small aneurysms clipped on July 5, 2023. The surgery took 11 hours and according to my daughter, I came out of the surgery a crazy woman. She said I was fighting with all the nurses and yelling I was leaving to go to the Houston Astros game. I have no memory of any of this. My first memory of being awake is on the 9th. I was sent home on the 12th. I really haven’t had that many problems since the surgery until recently. I have a deep indention to the side of my eye and I have a fairly deep indention on the top of my head. Lately I have noticed an indention that has appeared on my forehead and another indention near the deep indention on the top of my head. I spoke with my neuro surgeon about these but he said this was normal. Really? Has anyone experienced this? I am considering making an appointment to see my neurologist instead of the surgeon to double check this. Also, just this last week I have been experiencing some short, sharp pain in my head. It only lasts maybe 30 seconds, goes away and then might happen again. Has anyone experienced anything like this? I will add, these aneurysms were found totally by accident. I was not having any headaches, felt perfectly fine, they were found when I had a CT scan done that was ordered by my ear doctor, searching for something else.
Indentations I have learned here are quite normal after a craniotomy. The surgeon removes part of the skull to access where they need to go with the clip. I hope the members who have had one will add their experiences. Until they do, you can use our search feature (magnifying glass) and type in craniotomy or indentation. There is also this article Craniotomy | Expert Surgeon | Aaron Cohen-Gadol, MD. If you scroll down to possible complications he explains dents.
Thanks. The article was very helpful understanding how much of my skull was removed for the surgery. Now I understand why I have so many lumps in my head. Still a little confused as to why the lumps are deepening. Seems to me as the wound heals, the skull lumps should grow closer together.
Welcome, sorry I can’t help more…great question to ask through your portal I think.
Hey DeeDee,
My name is Merl, I’m a member of the Modsupport Team here on Ben’s Friends. Firstly, the information and link provided by @Moltroub is very good. I have had a couple of craniotomies and also have those ‘humps and lumps’. Here’s a little of the explanation I was given:-
When they cut the bone of our skull initially, they start with a burr hole, a round hole. Then they use a type of saw, somewhat similar to a mini jigsaw, with a little foot underneath to protect the brain. Depending on the surgeon and the location they are trying to reach, some will use a single burr hole making the incision round. Starting at one point, returning back to that same point. Some use 2 burr holes, as shown in the video clip. Some may cut a square, with 4 burr holes, one in each corner, then saw between the holes. I’ve had both the 2- and 4-hole procedures. My sister-in-law also required a craniotomy. Hers was temporal and the whole bone seemed to have shifted/sunk. We were told that it was to do with meshing of the bone flap they had removed and the skull. As the temporal flap has some facial shape any change can seem exaggerated.
Now, when they replace the bone flap many surgeons have differing methods. Some use a bracket and screws, some use a wire. The wire has a lesser profile, it’s thinner, than a bracket. The wire can also be shaped to the bone contour. The brackets cannot. I have the bracket and screws. One particular bracket, the one closest to my forehead, has burr holes either side of the bracket plates. The bracket lifts the front edge of my scalp and the burr holes have healed underneath the hole, making the burr holes almost sunken and VERY prominent. I thought the holes would ‘fill in’ with bone as they healed, they did not. In fact, I saw them as getting bigger. My wife tells me they weren’t, but I was VERY conscious about them. I used to make a joke about it when asked “Some people have bowling ball heads, mine too, only mine has finger holes as well… ha ha”. I try to make it light-hearted as otherwise some people come out with those “ohh you poor thing…” type comments and I find that gets really bad, really quickly. I don’t need sympathy. I need understanding. Since then I’ve required a few neurosurgeries and have a number of scars all over my scalp. When it’s shaved It looks like someone’s playing a bad game of Noughts ‘n’ Crosses. I now wear a baseball cap to cover it all.
But I’m sorry to say, my burr holes haven’t gotten any closer to each other.
I’m presently dealing with medical appointments, scans etc for yet another craniotomy, which I’m trying, with all of my being, to avoid (hence my tardiness in responding, apologies), but in the surgeons consult it was explained to me that the ‘craniotomy’ they want to perform this time is MUCH smaller and is more like keyhole than ‘open skull’ surgery. At this point my skull is such a mess another hole won’t make too much difference 
. But in saying that, I’m still trying to avoid it.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
Hi there, well this has been my biggest problem from my craniotomy. So that being said I have surgery scheduled to have my hardware removed and a synthetic skin placed where my indent is. The reason for this is because my screws are close to popping out so since it’s been a 1 1/2 since my craniotomy they think that the skull is pretty much in place and that they don’t have to put a new one in- but if they do it will be thin plate. This is all done through a cranial plastic surgeon. Good luck Anita
Hi Dee Dee
I’m 3 years post craniotomy and clipping, also for 2 aneurysms.
There were many and constant changes to my skull for the first 2 and half years, finally it seems to have stabilised just in the last 6 months.
At first, the dents in my forehead (near my temple) seemed to change regularly and on hot days the edges of the bone seemed almost sharp under my skin.
My neurosurgeon said that there’s tissue atrophy that is to be expected.
I suspect some of the twinges and sensations I had were due to nerves that have been cut and damaged that eventually regenerated and that was a slow process. For a long time, the side of my head with the plate seemed to swell into a ridge when I was hot or bothered. I once bumped my head on that ridge and for the next few hours that side of head was completely numb and I was a bit scared.
So many weird or uncomfortable sensations. I don’t seem to have as many deep dents as you, but as Merl has said, different surgeons have different techniques. My surgeon described my bones and tissue (skin and muscles) as “very thin”. He thought my bones and skin were unusual so that probably affects how bumpy we are too, all those individual variations and then aging on top of that (I’m in my early 50s and notice age related changes too).
Looking up the various weird side effects on reputable medical and neurosurgery sites comforted me and I never felt that something was truly “wrong”. I would definitely have seen a specialist if I felt that I was experiencing something that wasn’t fully explained or expected.
You’re only 6 months out, I could feel my skull continue to move around a lot for at least a year and then the changes started to slow down and I had periods where my head felt normal. For the first two years I could really notice it if my hairdresser touched or brushed certain places. I really missed those massages you get at the basin! Now, 3 years on and I’m as normal as I think it’s going to get, and very soft massages are back on👏.
Best wishes for your journey and continued healing in 2024.
Nat
Hi Dee Dee
I didn’t have a craniotomy. I had coiling and subsequent stenting - gosh - it’ll be six years ago soon. I had frequent spiking head pain for a long time. Multiple times a day - I don’t know if the medication they gave me for my headaches calmed them down somewhat but they are much less frequent now. I gave up talking to my surgeon - he pronounced me cured and a walking talking miracle. Looked at me puzzled anytime I asked about any type of complaint so I talk to my neurologist. Happy New Year
Hi
I had my clipping done May 23. Since then I have developed a very large dent and about 7 more on my skull. I am going to a surgeon up at Johns Hopkins where I had my craniotomy and he specializes in fixing the dents if they are larger then the norm. I won’t know the full procedure until I have my consultation with him. His name is Dr Gordon. I also get very bad hemaplegic migraines and occipital migraines and sharp pains. I get migraines daily. Hope you feel better.