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.
January 15, 2013 at 10:58 am
Hi, Glad I found this site. I’m having upper and lower jaw with chin replacement surgery this late summer/fall. Also, the MD is talking about fixing the tip of my nose (broken cartilage). I’m 48 years old with braces and decided to do the surgery to improve my sleep apnea. I currently have 100 episodes of apnea in an hour. I really don’t want to live like that the rest of my life and opting for the surgery. However, I feel very nervous.
January 16, 2013 at 2:18 am
Lucie, I think it’s a courageous move to undergo this type of operation at your age. As long as you’ve found a surgeon you’re comfortable with, you can rest assured all will go well. Let me know when you do eventually go in for the surgery and we can walk through it together. All the best!
January 13, 2013 at 9:50 am
Hi Dhanya, I had my upper and lower jaws pulled forward. Back in May. My face is so very different to me and I hated it. I’m still getting used to it. It takes time to realize the face staring back at you is now your new face. But everyone around me tells me it’s an improvement. We are always harder on ourselves. Trust in what others tell you. Wait for the swelling to go down. My surgery has improved my life so much I can get over the difference in my face. I wish you luck.
January 13, 2013 at 8:05 am
Hi
I got my upper jaw pushed inside by a few mm 5 days back. My face looks very different, not only cuz of the swelling, but just the whole bone structure. Has anyone had a look that was worse than b4 the surgery.
I am in a lot of pain, and this is toughest phase of my life physically. Really need to push the next week…happy to see so many ple out thr experiencing the same thing
December 27, 2012 at 10:35 pm
I am so thrilled I found this website. I had surgery on December 18th and it has been a bit of a hassle for me. I love your tips and I can’t wait to read the rest of your post. This will surely help me in the coming weeks.
December 28, 2012 at 3:44 am
Things should grow easier after these next few days, Lauren. Think of how tasty Christmas dinner will be next year!
December 26, 2012 at 6:33 am
She’s not even wired I wish they did because she keeps crying and screaming. I just don’t know what to do on top of that her swelling is just blowing up I thought it was suppose to go down ?
December 26, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Grace, trust me when I tell you that your sister will get through this. It sounds like she’s in the very initial stages of recovery (perhaps the first week or two?) and this is most certainly the most difficult piece. The most important weapon you have right now is distraction. If you’re able to keep her busy, the recovery will be much more approachable. Go for walks with her several times each day. Sit down and watch movies with her. Blend up a few smoothies and enjoy them with her. At the end of the day, it’s really a game of time. Once these first few weeks are behind her, she’ll be in much better shape. We’ve all been through this and we came out smiling, and I’m confident your sister will do the same. =)
December 26, 2012 at 6:29 am
Her face looks like she’s 500 lbs. she can’t walk without getting faint, and I thought after her surgery her swelling would go down and that they’d put wires on her but they didn’t. And I’m really scared because she never cries but she’s crying and her swelling is sweating and she’s constantly twitching and quivering from her pain she can’t even cry without her tears hurting her stitches and swelling. I didn’t even know this much damage could happen to anyone. She’s shaking from her pain and the worst part is I don’t know what to do to help her, there’s nothing I can do but hope and pray for a quick less painful recovery , idk why she could ever deserve this. It’s almost led me to believe god made a mistake, and there might not even be anyone watching her from up there. But deep down I still hope, and that’s why I ask u to pray. Please just let her pain be over, let me recognize my sister again, let her in the mirror without fainting. God at least let her tears fall without hurting her even more.
December 26, 2012 at 6:15 am
This blog has seriously been the greatest Christmas gift of all. I’m so glad to be able to read that it’ll be okay. My older sister fractured her jaw in three places, she has stitches on her lips and on her chin. She lost 6 teeth, and chipped 4 and 2 are wiggly, that’s excluding her wisdom teeth that were going to be pulled out before her fall. My beautiful clumsy sister is the definition of Murphy’s law. Right now she’s on morphine, and can’t even speak. Her face is just growing bigger she looks like .. I don’t even recognize her. It’s so difficult to see her in that much pain, I can’t help but feel guilty. She’s a fighter, and to see her going through this makes her my hero. She’s telling me shed rather die for Christmas, but she wants to live for my mom. I don’t know how we’ll get through this. Please help me and pray for her.
December 22, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Hello. I’m 20 and it has been about 6 days past my op on both my jaws. I don’t know if it’s me being impatient but the swell doesn’t seem to be going down. I’m breathing better though. When will I start seeing the swell go down? 🙁
December 24, 2012 at 5:07 am
Vanessa, the swelling is directly dependent on how much you’re talking and moving your mouth. The more you move you mouth, the longer the swelling will remain. However, the swelling won’t actually go away in any noticeable fashion until around 7 or 8 weeks, so you’ve still got a ways to go. Keep positive and this will all be over soon, my friend. =)
December 19, 2012 at 1:52 pm
I just wanted to thank you for writing this blog! I only have four more days until my surgery…it’s on christmas eve : ( But other than that I’m trying to keep a positive attitude and making myself realize that in a couple of months it will all be worth it. I’m also writing a blog throughout this experience at mlcjawsurgery.wordpress.com. I would love it if my blog turned out to be anything like yours! Again, thanks for all the tips and advice…. I will be sure to use each one!
December 19, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Melissa, I see you’re committing to daily updates as well. That will definitely help keep you sane during the first couple of weeks. Good luck with your recovery and Merry Christmas to you! (What an odd gift you’re giving yourself this holiday season, haha!) =)
December 18, 2012 at 11:58 pm
Nice to see you’re still responding to comments on your site, it has been quite invaluable to me. I’m on day 6 post surgery on both jaws, but I think my healing ordeal is going to be quite a bit easier than yours. I can already drink through a straw, and have been told to eat soft foods like scrambled eggs and oats. I’m band free, though that will probably change tomorrow when I go see my surgeon. I also have a slight problem where post-surgery the centre line of my teeth aren’t in the centre of my face. A bit of it is from swelling (like, none of your face is in the right position at all,) and some of it is just from misalignment from surgery I guess, which isn’t ideal. Hopefully the 1mm shift from centre-line can be fixed with just orthodontics though, otherwise I would have to under-go surgery again within the next few days which… would suck a lot.
My major question is, when could you start working out again? And I don’t mean some dumbbell curls. I do weightlifting semi-seriously and would love to know when I can actually snatch and C&J properly without worrying about breaking my face from clenching my teeth for a max effort or something.
Thanks in advance!
December 19, 2012 at 4:34 am
Henry, I’m jealous that you’re bouncing back to good health so quickly, man. As for working out, you can probably safely lift weights in a slow, controlled manner after about 4 weeks, but I would wait at least 6 weeks before doing anything too hardcore. You definitely don’t want to clench so hard that something in your jaw pops out of place. However, I would ask your surgeon and get their personal opinion on the matter. =)
December 12, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Hey 🙂
I had my surgery a week ago today and all is going okay! I miss chewing already but I don’t mind the food so far 🙂 do you know any good foods to eat?
I wasnt feeling too much pain until the elastic bands were put in today to pull my jaw to the right position, now I am struggling to sleep due to pain but I have a hot water bottle on my face, haha! Also, I am coughing up stuff aswell which is disgusting!!
I have been itchy on numb parts of my face but scratching does not make it better 🙁 is that normal?
Thankyou so much for this site, it is soooo helpful!!
Mark 🙂
December 12, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Mark, that’s good to hear that you’re already through the first week! The only foods I ate for the first few weeks were fruit smoothies, Ensure, and light soups such as tomato and mushroom.
As for your itchiness, there is not way to remedy that. I called it “phantom itching.” Your face is itchy, but since it’s also numb, scratching it doesn’t relieve you of the feeling. Very frustrating! It will go away as any itch does, though—it’s really a mind game.
Good luck with the next few weeks! =)
December 10, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Yeah it feels really good to be able to work out again. The first week I got back to the gym I felt a little weaker. I noticed certain exercises put pressure on my jaw such as decline bench press so I avoided those. This week I felt pretty good. As each week goes by I’m returning back to normal strength wise.
December 9, 2012 at 11:14 pm
I had a Le Fort I osteotomy 3 weeks ago on Nov. 19, 2012. It was only my upper jaw. I have been lucky to be a fast healer. Even though I was banded up the first week I could talk fairly well immediately after surgery. The doctor changed me to 2 bands after the first week. And 4 days later he said I could leave them out all morning and put them back in after lunch and to sleep with. I had sleep apnea before the surgery and now my airway is larger and the sleep apnea is gone. I sleep very well at night. My diet consisted of soft foods but I also drank a lot of protein shakes and meal replacement shakes. This helps the recovery and bone healing. It also helps replace calories your body needs. By doing this I was able to keep my weight loss at only 7 lbs. It’s only been 3 weeks after my surgery and I’m back to lifting fairly heavy weights and working out like normal. I noticed my swelling has dramatically reduced now. The only negative I noticed from the surgery were the nose bleeds which stopped for me after the first week. Like Graham says, it requires patience and just know that your body will heal at its own pace.
December 10, 2012 at 9:22 am
Sergio, welcome to the end of your first month of recovery! That’s great to hear that you were able to “eat” enough to keep your weight loss at a bare minimum. It feels great to get back to lifting weights again, doesn’t it? =)
November 26, 2012 at 1:56 am
I see, thanks for answering my questions.
November 26, 2012 at 12:41 am
I see, but is there a need to get that mass quantity of calories into my body? Cause my surgeon told me I would literally be living on ensure.
Would the protein shakes help decrease the amount of muscle mass loss? Lastly why did you have to wait till your mouth could be open? Can’t the protein seep through the gaps?
HAHA Sorry for spamming you with all these questions. I am hoping to lose more of my fats than muscle through this journey
November 26, 2012 at 12:46 am
During the initial stages of recovery, you’re going to drop to just below your natural weight. For me, I weigh roughly 170 lbs if I’m not doing anything to counter that. Since I had put on approximately 20 lbs of extra weight prior to the surgery (from working out and eating 5 meals per day), I lost a total of 30 lbs—the extra 20 lbs I had gained plus a few more that my body burned through while healing itself.
It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re going to lose muscle mass regardless because you won’t be able to maintain it while you’re dormant for the first few weeks. It’s easy to build back, though, because you’ll be back at the gym long before your muscle memory fades.
The reason I couldn’t drink protein shakes at first was because I was drinking through a syringe due to swelling. Many people are able to drink from a cup immediately following the operation, though, so it’s really person-dependent.
November 26, 2012 at 12:31 am
Hey Graham,
I have been reading your blog in preperation for my Surgery on the 11th of Dec. Went for my final consultation today and heard that my surgeon would be shifting my upper jaw forward and upwards and my lower jaw inwards. Anyway just a question for you, did you eat any protein shakes suring your recovery? If yes or no, is there a reason for it? I am considering taking them fearing that i would lose muscle mass instead of fats. :p
Thanks
November 26, 2012 at 12:35 am
Darren, I drank several cans of Ensure (a meal supplement) every day during the initial stages of my recovery. Once I was able to open my mouth a bit more, say after 2–3 weeks, I started drinking protein shakes each day as well. It’s a great way to get a mass quantity of calories into your body. However, at the end of the day, you’re still going to lose muscle mass because you won’t be able to exercise in any focused manner for around one month following surgery.
You’ll be able to rebuild that muscle quickly once you have the energy to head back to the gym, though. I was able to get all my lifting weights back to where they were previously within three weeks of returning to the gym. =)
November 24, 2012 at 9:39 am
Thanks for the advice! Ill post how my post-op goes!
November 22, 2012 at 11:23 pm
one more thing- I really just don’t want to look different after the surgery infront of my friends and girls that I know! I don’t want them to think that I wanted to have this surgery done to look better, as I don’t feel bad with my looks. Thanks Graham!
November 22, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Hey Graham..
its about 15 days from my operation tonight and I’m having very mixed feelings.. First of all, I question a lot if its really necessary to do this procedure. I do not need double jaw, only the bottom jaw and its not really too much of an advancement.. But, I really feel ok with who I am and I don’t want to change.. I know its too late to call it off, so I’m just gonna have to deal with it.. It gets me even more nervous now that I read that I won’t be able to talk for a month?! Also, my surgeon told me to quit smoking about 3 months before the operation. I quit about a month ago, not entirely though.. I cut it down to smoking about 10 cigarettes a week from a pack a day that I used to smoke.. It has been real difficult for me and adding the stress of university makes it even more difficult. You should understand that I’m a 19 year old male, and its real difficult to me to have facial changes.. Please give me some help? Thank you very much.. Sorry for my bad english, I’m from Venezuela and spanish is my first language.. Thank you very much again.
November 23, 2012 at 11:46 am
Hi Juan,
You’re the second person I’ve met from Venezuela this week! You have a beautiful country.
I can’t tell you whether or not to go through with the surgery, but I can assure you that 99% of the people who have the operation are happy they did so. Your face will not change too drastically. I barely noticed any change (aside from the fact that my side profile lines up much better now) and I had both jaws operated on.
Also, if you’re only having your bottom jaw operated on, you’ll be eating and speaking much sooner than I was. I would guess that you’ll be able to have a conversation and eat solid food again within the first few weeks.
I think you should go through with the surgery if it’s been recommended by your orthodontist and surgeon. The recovery will be smoother for you because you’re only dealing with one jaw and it’s the easy one. =)
November 21, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Instead of a syringe for eating…get soft plastic squeeze bottles… they cost about $3.00 each.
The moderately wide mouth is easy to load food. The nozzle cap screws on easily. The nozzle is soft and tappered(like on a mustard bottle) fits in between numb lips, and you can squeeze the foot into your mouth.
Works VERY WELL. No mess. Get the translucent plastic so you can see what is in the bottles. Get many bottles for a variety of different foods plus one for water and one for prune juice.
Did this for my son. Really works.
November 21, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Harriete, that’s a great idea! I wish you would have been around to share this wisdom with me a couple of years ago. =)