Tracheal Scrape

[Guest Sarah]

I've heard that the operation's quite save and there's no chance to hurt your voice, because it won't come near your vocal cords... (according to my psychiatrist) and the surgeon talks about it as if it's nothing. But then i hear on forums and from one of my ts friends that it's very dangerous. Now I know you ave all your own opiniond but you can't really say anything about it unless you've heard it from someone who actually had the operation of a tracheal scrape (or adam's apple reduction as it's called in Belgium). Now my adam's apple isn't big, not that noticable. But apparantly it won't cost me anything if i do it with another operation like a nose job, srs or something. (I'm really thinking about a nose job, becaus emy nose is rather big and too masculine for my taste)

Now i was really thinking about the tracheal scrape, because they told me it wasn't a dangerous one at all, but what is your expeirence about this? and don't go like I read somewhere or a friend of a friend... I want some more real views,

grtz & hugs,

Sarah xxx

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Donno

I have been here 1 and 1/2 years. I cannot remember this coming up? I know vocal chord surgery is not very effective for most t-girls. I know tracheal scrape and vocal chord surgery is discussed on another support site sometimes. PM me and I will give you a link - if no one here helps you.

Lizzy

[Guest Sarah]

well I have no intentions of doing anything with my voice, it sounds feminin enough (one of the few lucky advantages ^^)

I just want to know if the operation is relatively safe or not.

grtz & hugs,

Sarah xxx

[Guest Jewel]

I had a Trachea "Shave"/"Scrape" with Dr. Ousterhout in San Francisco at the same time as I had several other facial procedures. I had no problems. It's a very common procedure for trans women.

If it's done properly, they shouldn't be doing anything that would compromise your vocal cords. They just remove a little excess cartilage from the "adam's apple" and smooth it down. They don't touch your vocal cords.

Maybe your friend was confusing it with femlar or some kind of voice surgery? Or maybe she knew someone who went to a quack surgeon who cut down too far into the cartilage? I've never heard of a case of any of the major FFS surgeons causing vocal cord damage from performing a trach shave.

[Guest Donna Jean]

I have no problem with any other surgery on my body...BUT...a tracheal scrape is out of the question for me...

Not much there anyways...

It just gives me the creeps!

And, the only thing that I could add is anecdotal comments of whose was good and whose was bad....

I'll get a lot of other things done before I ever go there!

HUGGS!

Donna Jean

[Guest Girl Emily]

Sarah,

I was thinking of the same thing. Trachea shave with rhinoplasty by a surgeon in Tijuana Mexico. I think I can get a discount by being available if someone cancels since I live here. I really think it would boost my confidence. I haven't heard of any unusual danger for this type of surgery.

Huggs,

[Guest nonamesleft]

It is a fairly routine, quick and straightforward procedure. But there is definitely a risk involved, and many trans women have had damage to their vocal chords as a result. If you do not have a very prominent adams apple, but are still concerned about it, just make sure you choose a surgeon who has done a large number of them. If you have an average or below average size, I would say the risk is much lower, just make sure the doctor is not going to be to aggressive. The biggest problem with the procedure is that there is no clear line on how much can be safely removed. If they remove too little, there will be something left, and if they go too deep, they will indeed do damage. So you want a doctor who knows how best to balance those limitations. For me, I was 'hung like a horse', and Dr Bowers was in surprised when she saw me before the op. I knew I would have something left afterwards, but anything was an improvement. She took a fair amount off, but there was indeed a bit left. Its hard to get any good reviews for trach shaves, but I knew that she has done plenty in her career, so I am sure she has made enough mistakes to have learned where to draw the line (honestly, I don't know how else a doctor could really understand where that limit is until they have personally crossed it). I don't think you need to be too worried about it, just do your research and communicate your concerns with the doctor. I would say the percentage of procedures that result in damage is very low, you hear almost nothing about the thousands of successful one, only when there is a mistake does anyone mention it.

[Guest BeckyTG]

Sarah,

Before you get any cosmetic surgery of any kind, let the hormones do their work. Estrogen is truly a wonderful thing. Eventually, your lower jaw will fade much more gradually into the front of your neck and much of your adam's apple will be covered up.

My aa was quite prominent and now it's pretty much gone. I was out to dinner with a natal girlfriend recently and she even commented on it, with no provocation or question from me. She just popped off and said, "Wow, you don't even have an adams apple. You really are a woman"...

I've done nothing but take my dosages regularly and watch it work.

Becky