Being 3 months post-op is the milestone that all jaw surgery patients are excited to get to because it means the bones have fully fused together and you are healed! This is also where eating is typically back to normal for those who had double jaw surgery.
The bones may be healed, but the nerves will take much longer still. I have been experiencing fairly painful stabbing and poking sensations in my chin and lower lip. When I drink something cold, it feels as if something cold is touching my outer chin. It's weird to feel sensations in one where when it's a different area being touched! I'd say that I can open my mouth as wide as could before the surgery. Yawning has helped stretched my jaw out and, as a sleep deprived student, I do a lot of yawning. I have been wearing my elastics at night as I am supposed to. The gaps are slowly, but surely closing. I still cannot believe how comfortable my bite feels and not having to always be thinking about where I am holding my jaw so I look normal. If you reading this a trying to decide if you want to get it, my advice to you is do it. The first week is the worse and it gets better after that. I'd say the first 3 weeks were the hardest overall. The first week you deal with discomfort and some [bearable] pain. This is the week I was in "survival mode" and didn't really care about what I was eating. I would eat and sleep and watch Grey's Anatomy. The second week was when I got tired of the liquid diet and felt more normal, but restricted. At week 3 I was aloud to start taking my bands off to eat soft food, but the challenge of that week was trying to get a spoon in my mouth. 3 weeks of all that for a LIFETIME of having a comfortable bite, ease of chewing, and a beautiful smile is worth it. It's okay to be scared. This is a scary operation. The fear is always worse than the actual thing itself.
2 Comments
Rachelle
2/16/2017 09:00:58 pm
Hi there, your blog has been a huge help to me and my lower jaw surgery journey so first off thank you! Second, I am currently 2 months post-op and I am wondering how was your swelling at that point? It still seems like i have 10-20% welling in my jaw just where the plates are and i am a little worried it won't go away. Did your jaw heal flat or did it heal with bumps where the plates are? I heard your supposed to be able to feel the plates when its all healed but currently when i touch my jaw i can just feel muscle over the lumps where the plates are.
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Kristin
2/17/2017 10:10:05 am
I am so glad you have found this information helpful! The last 10% or so of swelling takes the longest to go down, but only you will notice it. No one knows your face better than you do! Of course your surgeon and orthodontist will notice as well, but they are trained to. I want to say it usually takes around a year for 100% of the swelling to go away. But like I said, only you will notice it.
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