I read somewhere that after a neck dissection - there can be permanent swelling and hardening of the soft tissues of the neck, which among other things - can restrict movement. John's "puffiness" in the face area has seemed to gone down to some degree....but there is a most definite hardened feeling under the chin and throat area. I don't mean the skin feels rough or anything on the surface, but more like a very hard feeling deep in the tissues of the neck. Will this also go away with time - or is this a potential permanent side-effect of the treatment? John has an appt. this week with his oral surgeon as well, but I was wondering if anyone else had or still has this "hardened" feeling in their neck/throat area. Thanks.