Recovery Tips
Following is a summary of the most important things I learned during my recovery from double jaw surgery.
- Drink lots of prune juice and water. Your toilet time will be far from enjoyable for the first couple of weeks because you’re likely to be severely dehydrated. The prune juice will provide your body with the fiber it needs to work those bowels properly, but fiber is useless without water because it won’t dissolve in your body. I recommend a bare minimum of 1 L of water per day. Drink 2 L per day as soon as you can.
- Before you attempt to pull any dead skin off of your lips, be absolutely certain that it’s not a stitch. I learned this the hard way.
- Start using medicated lip balm immediately following your return to your own home. If you don’t, you’ll end up with flaps of dead skin that are half an inch in diameter, and I promise you they won’t feel good when they catch on your braces.
- Apply heat to your face 3-4 times per day for the first 5-6 weeks to help with the swelling. The heat will also help you fall asleep.
- Begin each day at a decent time. If you sleep most of the day, you won’t be able to sleep at night, and you’ll hate yourself for it. Get out of bed, shower, eat some breakfast and brush your teeth and you’ll enjoy each day a lot more. (This is good advice for any day of your life, but it especially applies when you’re on the verge of depression from having jaw surgery.)
- Go to bed on time. Yawning will cause you quite a bit of pain, so prevent it by getting the right amount of sleep during the proper hours.
- As soon as you’re able to talk clearly enough for friends and family to understand you, call people and be social. Go outside and enjoy nature. Whatever you do, ensure you don’t fall into a trap of loneliness and self-pity.
- Start drinking from a cup as soon as you’re physically able to. Your upwards trek back to having full energy begins the day you can throw your syringes in the garbage.
- Eat solid food as soon as your surgeon gives you the go-ahead. It’ll be a slow, tedious and frustrating process, but you need to go through with it in order to build your jaw muscles back up and learn how to chew properly once again.
- It may take some time to get used to your new smile and your newly structured face. Don’t be ashamed of yourself. You don’t look funny at all. You’re simply not used to looking like you’re supposed to.
- And lastly, don’t worry about your looks, bite or facial feeling for at least 6 months. You may have an open bite, but you’ll wake up one morning and your teeth will have migrated back together. You may be completely numb, but feeling will return almost overnight.
If you have any questions about the recovery process, or perhaps have other pointers to share with upcoming jaw surgery patients, feel free to jot them down in the comments.
May 18, 2012 at 7:38 pm
my doctor said i could start walking asap. and working out at 6 weeks. i think you could start walking NOW.
May 18, 2012 at 5:41 pm
When can someone begin working out again? I would love to start running sometime soon, but I would just be happy with walking to be honest. I am a month into recovery.
May 18, 2012 at 11:42 am
Hi Graham, I looked up your blog and now am using it as guidance after lower jaw surgery last week. I found confort in some things you put. It helped me deal with fear of pain or the unexpected. To know what can happen makes a difference to me.
I use some suggestions and ideas you had as well.
I like to thank you for creating this detailed blog; it is so helpful.
May 10, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Bree,
Thx for reading my post! My husband probably hates my attitude about as much as I hate these elastics right now! He never cooks and in the past week (since he’s home to ‘help’) he has made homemade cheese, asparagus and bacon tart, and is now rigging up a kit he bought off the Internet to sous vie meats. So not nice.
I’ll ask my surgeon about the Neil’s Rinse. Thanks for the tip! I have the squeeze bottle and even the little salt packets but I’m afraid it would make me want to blow my nose even more.
I cried today mostly from exhaustion and walking around the city. I just had a baby last Xmas and I want to assure you all out there, childbirth is way worse than jaw surgery. Jaw surgery is all planned out, down to the last detail. You only have to take care of yourself and there are no scary hormones to deal with. That said, my body has been through hell and back (I had 2 blood transfusions and a 5-day hospital stay after my baby was born) and I’m still here and healthy. Kind of amazing!
IH
May 10, 2012 at 7:31 pm
My current FB status. Pardon my French!
Ventured outside alone in the heat. Big mistake. They had to remake my Jamba, even though the cashier and I had a 15 second conversation about how I needed it THIN. Papyrus was hot as balls and some chick was aggresively pointing at the Mother’s Day Cards and almost touched MY FACE. The girl at Melt was nice but two shitty little but tasty soups cost me $8.83. They were like SAMPLES. I cried. Which is not easy when you’re banded shut. My elastics have orange strings, corn husks and black bean bits all stuck on the outside and even more horribly on the INSIDE. Whoever said you could blend anything down wasn’t telling you about the aftermath! (Graham, my maxillofacial dept. nurse Katie, my friend Andrea, the list goes on!)
May 9, 2012 at 10:45 pm
Destani, the surgery will be worthwhile for you, I’m sure. Keep us posted during the initial few weeks. =)
May 9, 2012 at 4:47 pm
I am having jaw surgery on the 6th of June. They are correcting my cross bite, under bite, open bite, and widening my palate. I am absolutely scared to death. I have read your blog and the comments everyone has posted. It does ease my worries a little. All of your advice and tips are definitely going to be put to use along with following the doctors orders. Thank you!
May 9, 2012 at 12:59 pm
I always forget to add something…..lol.
Ask your doctor if he will allow you to use Neilmed…aka Netipot. That thing has been my freedom!! I was going crazy with the stuffy nose until mine suggested it. Mucinex helps as well, but I realized that it was causing my drooling. Try the sinus rinse if they will allow it tho…it does help!
May 9, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Ina,
I couldnt help but “try to laugh” at your post!!! My husband says I am super annoying… and I am pretty sure he wants this over with more than I do! LOL!
Im so glad we have this availability to find peace during our journey. Imagine how crazy we would feel, if we didnt know it was to be expected- yikes!
I am at three weeks today. Im still swollen along the lower jaw and the Le Fort Incision has played an evil game on my sinuses. I despise having to change these rubber bands every time i want to eat or drink, and the nerves are completely going haywire all over my face….otherwise, im right on target. I gave up the liquid diet by the end of week one. I went straight to soft foods, but I was given the luxury of not being wired or banded permanently. I can gum pasta like a champ- in fact, Olive Garden gets most of my money these days!
I have cried more in the last three weeks- than I have in years. Its sort of baffling as to why, but I tend to believe that it is because I have felt so vulnerable. Getting out with friends is tiring and sometimes a hassle, but it sure does cure the blues! I am counting down the days until I can get on my mountain bike and not have the wind hurt my face. Its finally Spring here in Washington and I dont want to miss it!
May 8, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Hi Ina!
Upon reading through your post, I’d like you to know that you are in exactly the same place as most. The first two weeks are certainly the most difficult to get through, largely due to the emotional stress of not being able to communicate.
It’s good to hear that you’ve graduated to soups already. Just embrace the bad TV and your days will begin to get better within the next week or so. I promise! =)
May 8, 2012 at 12:13 am
The first few days are supposed to be the worst, right?
I’m definitely feeling that right now. The nurse called today and said I sounded amazing. In fact I only have rubber bands but I am wearing horrible arch bars that cut into my upper and lower gums. Using dental wax to help that.
The worst thing for me is not being able to breathe, especially through my nose. I have a humidifier going 24/7 so that helps. I’m using Ocean Spray and this really nice alcohol-free mouth wash. My nose is really stuffed up. I am using hydrogen peroxide and cotton swabs to clean out the bloody snot. It works! Taking Tylenol with codeine and some baby ibuprofen. Also prune juice and smooth move laxative tea. Nothing has happened yet. Just drinking Ensure and smoothies for now. Graduated to fruit juices and tomato soup tonight. My mom made me a whole menu of blendables and they are packaged in the freezer for when I feel up to it. Also still using ice packs, Vaseline on my lips and a nice moisturizer cream on my puffy and shiny face. There is some bruising on my cheeks and my nostrils are huge. Some dark marks around the corners of my mouth. I saw that another Asian on your blog said he had those too.
I am so sad mentally. Up until Friday when I got the surgery, I was the major caretaker of my 4-1/2 month old baby girl. She is doing great with my husband and my grandparents but I miss her terribly. I can’t lift anything over 5-10 pounds for 6 weeks. Even getting out of bed puts pressure on my teeth. The weather in SF is super hot right now (go figure) and they took her out for a walk, I was too weak and stayed home. Walked around my building a bit and sat outside in the sun for a few minutes.
I have a ton of in-person support and online support. I’m extremely lucky. Everything has been planned out and all is going according to plan. My mother-in-law is coming in a few days and will be helping with the baby for 5 weeks.
I’ve been watching lame tv and trying not to grump around and feel sorry for myself. I guess I am grumpy and healthy enough to be annoying to my husband, maybe I’m not really that messed up!
IH
May 6, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Thanks for a quick response I notice from post op til las week I was sleeping a good amount of the night first 2 weeks I slept every 2 hrs in hospital (overnight) til the switched me from morphine to liquid I believe when I got send home I was sleepin every 3-4 hrs. After 4 days of basically doing nothing I felt good enough to get up and move and then if I took a nap during the day I was fine. I started back working so I do alot durin the day but within the past week my sleeping went from about 8 hours and waking rested to barely gettig 3 again and dragging. Is this normal because I started working and just need to adjust. I do put heat on my jaw about 20 minutes prior to falling asleep too and that does help
May 6, 2012 at 1:02 am
Hi Kim,
As far as sleeping goes, you’ll find yourself able to sleep through the night very soon. The first 4 – 5 weeks generally bring a lot of restlessness with them, but you’ll soon be comfortable enough to sleep with no issues. My only suggestion is to sleep with a hot pack on your pillow to see if the heat soothes you.
Being hungry is, unfortunately, part of the game. Since you’re eating less and your body is spending most of its energy healing the bones in your jaw, you’re simply going to be hungry most of the time. Once you can eat at a normal pace again, your hunger will subside and life will return to normal.
Just a few more weeks until you’re back to normal. Stay positive!
May 6, 2012 at 12:49 am
I am currently 4 weeks post op. had lower jaw moved forward 8 mm. Was never banded shut or have bite splint minus surgery only had class 1 elastics which was for 3 weeks. Was on an all liquid diet for a week and boy did that get old quick, currently eating soft foods I can mash with tongue on my palate. Have numbness on lower lip from center to the corner. Now working on stretching jaw, already had to relearn how to swallow, drink from a cup, and talk.
My question for you is any tips for sleeping. Also any tips for not feeling hungry 24/7 lol. I eat and it takes me an hr to do so and as soon as I finish I feel hungry again and stomach growls.
May 5, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Well, I really hope the follow-up surgery goes exactly as planned. He’s a young guy, so he’ll be able to heal quickly. This is unfortunate, but in a few short months, it will all be behind him.
All the best for the upcoming surgery! =)
May 5, 2012 at 3:35 pm
The muscles are so strong in my son’s mouth that they are pulling the jaw back to the original position. They have tried bands in different positions. They have relaxed some but not enough. From what I understand they will move the screws to reset it. They will only be breaking the lower jaw this time.
May 4, 2012 at 12:02 am
That’s unfortunate, Debbie, but I have heard of a few people who needed to undergo adjustments following the initial operation. It’s rare, but it has happened before.
What exactly is the surgeon unhappy with?
May 3, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Has anyone had to have their surgery redone? My son will need to have an adjustment in the next few months. They will need to break the lower jaws and tweak it. Here we go again. Everything looks good but the dr is not happy with how something set.
May 2, 2012 at 10:03 pm
Hi Christie,
The only “tightness” I still experience is if I contort my nose in an unnatural fashion, and that’s due to scar tissue that never broke down.
I encourage you to call her surgeon and ask for their advice. Jo Lynn should most definitely not be experiencing discomfort at 18 months post-op.
I think it’s time to ask the professionals. =)
May 2, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Thanks Graham!
I’m going in for my surgery tomorrow morning, and reading your blog for the past few months has really helped ease my nerves :).