Survey of Satisfaction from Facial Feminisation Surgery (SSFFS)

Thu Dec 1 01:37:53 2022 UTC

(10 comments)

There's a problem in the facial feminisation industry when its leading surgeon in the UK, Chris Inglefield, can permanently blind a young woman, continue to book and perform operations while the relevant authorities are aware of this, lie to regulators that he had reported the incident to the CQC when he hadn't yet & be investigated for it ... and his prospective patient base (us!) not know any of it until 4 years later (see: https://www.mpts-uk.org/-/media/mpts-rod-files/mr-christopher-inglefield-28-nov-22.pdf ).

The lack of transparency and centralised, clearly laid out information about what FFS surgeons exist, what their rough prices are, who delivers the the highest satisfaction rates in which areas of the face, and who has the best or worst complication rates, does not line up against the relative risk and cost of these operations. What info is out there is scattered all over the internet in outdated 2000s forums, in personal Facebook posts, on these subreddits and on 4chan and on Twitter, and even on review sites like TripAdvisor. It's nuts enough that in 2022 we still don't have a centralised, bespoke forum for discussion transition surgeries that isn't limited to Reddit's trans audience and reliant on Reddit's cumbersome UX, but perhaps more nuts still is that nobody has already done what I recently did, making an anonymised Google Forums survey to collate the experiences of those who've already had FFS straight from the horse's mouth.

Unlike the wiki on this subreddit, the links below can be shared cross-platform, across Discord servers and other communities, put on flyers to be shared at your IRL pride events and support groups, DM'd to individuals you meet elsewhere, and so on. No identifying information is required; entering a unique code or username is recommended simply as a sort of password in case you want to contact me to update your answers in future, and will be redacted from the datasheet. While the interface says the survey is 51 pages long, it's because there's pages you'll skip if you haven't had multiple rounds of revisions and suchlike, for almost everybody it'll be a fraction of that length.

I know it's a hassle to make the effort to fill in surveys, but this is such a serious issue with such an easy fix (and I don't think anyone is going to improve the situation for ourselves but us) that I really hope, with so much of the healthcare situation for our demographic deteriorating at the moment, we can try and at least change this small corner of our fortunes. I've gotten DIY info to about 600 trans adults and about 30 trans kids at this point here in the UK, and I'm just some palsy hick; there are things we can do with what limited resources we have already to materially improve trans lives. Spread these links widely amongst the trans community both online and offline so that in time we can collect enough information to help trans women the world over make more informed decisions about our surgeries in future.

Survey form: bit.ly/3zxY7mw
Survey data (results so far): bit.ly/3mLn5XS

u/TeaUnusual901

Thu Dec 1 02:26:17 2022 UTC

(0 children)

Jesus Christ, someone here recommended me inglefeld 😟😟

u/Katlynashe

Thu Dec 1 04:57:49 2022 UTC

(5 children)

Its very scary. But blindness is a listed known risk to FFS specifically brow reduction surgery. Its very rare, but can occur to anyone and happen under any surgeon. I don't know if this poor lady would have gone blind under another surgeon. But unfortunately its one of those complications we do NOT talk about often enough!

u/HiddenStill

Thu Dec 1 11:27:34 2022 UTC

(2 children)

Blindness is only part of the issue. If it were a surgeon with a great track record and they had responded appropriately you might argue that it’s one of those things that happens even to the best of surgeons. But he lied about it and he doesn’t have a great track record. Personally I’m not happy going to a surgeon I can’t trust, nor one without a great track record.

https://old.reddit.com/r/TransSurgeriesWiki/wiki/srs/europe#wiki_christopher_inglefield

It’s not useful to look at complications of FFS in general and apply it to the individual surgeon. Some surgeons are a lot better/worse than others and it’s important to know which one you’ve got. The number of serious complications at this level are few and I’d be extra careful in looking at any surgeons who have them.

Thu Dec 1 13:11:13 2022 UTC

(1 child)

Sorry yes keep in mind I am not saying this surgeon in particular is any good or bad. But rather I did want to point out blindness called out here is a know rare but existing risk. Which only emphasizes you want to be extremely confident when anyone is cutting up your face for FFS

Thu Dec 1 13:45:37 2022 UTC

All surgery is risky and trans people have died, but that’s not terribly useful information by itself. It’s the size of the risk that matters vs how much you need it.

It’s really hard to find out the risk in any meaningful way, and knowing the industry wide stats means little when it comes to individual surgeons. I don’t think a lot of people here understand that, and then some get botched and only work it out afterwards.

u/Pancake-san

Thu Dec 1 07:33:41 2022 UTC

Really? This particular complication was not mentioned by my FFS surgeon, even thought I asked (out of curiosity, just because the intervention is near the eyes). Even if I had known I would have gone under the knife anyways, but yeah, I'd have liked to be more informed.

Thu Dec 1 11:00:51 2022 UTC

Potential complications and risks of facial surgery https://www.transgendermap.com/medical/surgery/face/complications-risks/

Some of the complications below are potentially fatal. Blood loss ... Blindness could also occur, but is extremely rare. Speech changes.

<nods> Very few people are aware that blindness is a very real complication of FFS. Its documented and known. Its just rarely communicated. Surgeons just don't want to tell potential customers: you might die, you might go blind, you might be left with permanent crippling nerve damage, you might have a stroke and long term paralysis. These happen to some people. They are the unspoken costs of FFS.

I've read direct accounts about people having all of these except blindness (which tends to leave the person no longer internet capable). There was a transgal who talked here last year on reddit here about her stroke. It was an absolutely terrifying read. She was only in her early 30's, was relatively healthy. But her surgeon was too aggressive with her combined jaw surgery and she ended up having massive bleed out, requiring two transfusions. And unfortunately after sewing her back up she had a stroke. The surgeon and recovery hospital discharged her as fast as they could in an attempt to avoid her dying under their care. She ended up in the ER within 12-24 hours post discharge with half her body paralyzed.

I think its one of the biggest reasons I encourage people if you can live happily enough with some dysphoric features, don't go under the knife. Because risk does exist. And it can happen anywhere at any surgeon. It most certainly is higher risk with less skilled surgeons. But even the best surgeon can't 100% ensure everyone has zero complications

Thu Dec 1 01:42:10 2022 UTC

Surveys are against rule 4, but I’ve allowed this post.

u/Trippyyy1

Thu Dec 1 16:10:15 2022 UTC

Oh my god I didn’t know this. I had full ffs and never knew you could even go blind. Luckily I’m extremely happy with my ffs result

u/cimmic

Sun Feb 26 15:43:23 2023 UTC

Something I haven't heard anyone mention is Hypoglossal nerve palsy. It's a risk at any surgery that includes inturvation. It's not the surgeon but the anesthesiologist that carries out this part of the procedure. I got this complication that paralyzed the whole right side of my tongue for 3-4 months. It made it really difficult to eat and talk. The first day no one could understand what I said and two days after surgery, it was impossible for me to swollow. I had to be careful eating for a long time, and if you get something wrong in the throat it is important to cough it up, as it can cause a bad lung infection, which can be fatal. A neurologist is the right person to be referred to.

It's generally not dangerous but to me it caused a lot of social problems having difficulties talking. It goes over by itself and it's very rare, I was told. Didn't know about this complication before, bit I was lucky to have a sister working in a hospital who works specifically with patients that have difficulties swollowing, and had encountered a patient who had died over night from a lung infection because he didn't cough his food and water up again.

It is caused by swelling inside the throat that puts pressure on the hypoglossal nerve so it gets paralyzed, so it naturally goes over when the swelling goes down. After the surgery, I was told that the anesthesiologist was struggling inturbating me, I don't know if that was because of my anatomy, because of the anesthesiologist's skills, or if I just happened to be unlucky. I wish I knew if this is related to my anatomy that maybe could make me more prone to the same thing in the future, but I'll always tell future clinics about this. Sometimes with shorter surgeries, it is possible to use a mask instead of a tube for my airways (e.g. for BA).

Here is a video that I've found interesting about inturbation. It unfortunately doesn't mention this complication (but mentions a risk for the patient losing a tooth). https://youtu.be/Z0-RDtlpvqs

Keyword: tongue paralysis.

Survey of Satisfaction from Facial Feminisation Surgery (SSFFS)

all 10 comments