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.
July 3, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Hi Bailey! Thank you for the thank you, haha! Good luck in a few days!
July 3, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Patty, the only advice I have regarding chewing is to take it slow. I bit my lips and cheeks more during my first week of chewing again than I did during the first 24 years of my life (possible hyperbole).
Amazingly enough, chewing isn’t natural. It has to be learned, and in your case, relearned. Just take your time and don’t rush through meals.
You’ll be back in business within a week or two of practice. =)
July 3, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I’m 25 years old and I am having the exact surgery you had on July 7th. I am very nervous but reading your blog has really helped with that. Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this after your surgery!
July 3, 2011 at 10:50 am
when will I feel my lip and chin again?
July 3, 2011 at 10:50 am
I got the OK to chew and started a couple of days early. I noticed I have been biting my lower lip and it now has sores. I also don’t seem to be able to chew, it’s like it’s not a normal thing to do. I have been making myself chew and keeping my mouth open so not to bite my lip. Any tips on not biting your lip and will chewing ever become a normal thing again?
July 1, 2011 at 7:52 am
I was in the hospital for 2 nights, Angelika. Following that, I spend 2 weeks at my parent’s house just so I wouldn’t be alone. Having your family around during those initial couple of weeks makes a huge difference.
June 30, 2011 at 8:56 pm
How long did any of you stay in the hospital for double jaw surgery ( anxious mother)
June 27, 2011 at 8:15 pm
That’s so soon! Enjoy your meals for the next month! Let us know how recovery treats you. =)
June 27, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Hey Graham,
Just set the date today. July 27th. Feels A LOT different knowing there’s an actual date/day planned for this to take place!
June 27, 2011 at 9:40 am
Hi Amy-Lynn,
I have bone removed from my lower jaw (1 piece on each side). I also had my upper palette widened. On top of that, they moved my lower back back a few millimeters (by breaking the joint) and moved my upper jaw forward by a similar degree.
I’m not sure how directly that applies to bi-lateral TMJ surgery, but I imagine the first few weeks of recovery will be fairly similar.
June 27, 2011 at 9:36 am
I was wondering when you have been talking about upper and lower jaw surgery do you mean the joint. I am scheduled for bi-lateral TMJ surgery on July 19th. I love the blog but I am not sure if this information applies to me.
June 27, 2011 at 12:42 am
How far in the future is your surgery going to be, Kevin? The sooner the better, in my opinion!
June 26, 2011 at 11:24 pm
This is an awesome blog! I’m scheduling my surgery date tomorrow and am so thankful for websites like these to prepare me for this experience! I’ve had braces for a little less than a year and am so excited to have a surgery I’ve waited my entire life for. Thank you all for the information and I will be sure to keep everyone updated/help out any future people who come to this site!
June 20, 2011 at 9:55 pm
I returned to work after 2 weeks, but I was unable to speak. If you’re required to actually talk at your job, you’ll probably want to shy away for at least a month.
Good luck with the surgery, Brande!
June 20, 2011 at 6:15 pm
I have my surgery date! So excited, but nervous too. July 11th, filled out my paperwork to be off from work. I’m taking 6 weeks, my doctor said I could go back in 2 weeks if I’m feeling up to it. I work with unsavory characters in confinement so I am opting to take more time off, has anyone else had their Dr. tell them they could go back to work after 2 weeks?
June 20, 2011 at 9:32 am
‘allo Tamara!
That’s great that you just got back on the soft foods kick. It’s nice to take in some new flavors after a month in the drought of Ensure, isn’t it?
I’m trying to remember how long it took me to be able to speak decently (and clearly) following surgery. I know that I went back to work at the two week mark and could barely say anything at all. By one month, I was able to convey simple information, but still couldn’t hold my own in a conversation. I believe it was at around six weeks that I commenced having legitimate conversations once again.
So I’d give yourself a couple more weeks of a grace period. Now that you’re eating soft foods again, the muscles in your face will begin to rebuild fairly quickly, so speech should follow suit.
All the best!
June 19, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Hi Graham,
I had both upper-lower jaw surgery on May 24. So, I am on the fourth week of recovery and just started soft foods, which is great. I just read the entire blog and it’s absolutely wonderful what you are doing, Graham. One question nobody asked though is about speach. I still can’t talk properly and for a long time. Any advice there? How long did it take to speak properly and is there anything I can do to speed up the speach recovery?
Thanks a lot, Tamara
June 6, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Scottie, it’s good to hear that your feeling is returning. That always makes you feel a bit more positive about the entire operation.
Your smile is going to be great. You’ll have to make up for 40 years of lost smiling. Make it count!
June 6, 2011 at 10:51 am
This is to just update you guys on my progress. On April 19,2011 I had double jaw surgery. I am slowly getting the feeling back in my face. I would say I have about 75% of the feeling back. To begin with I was numb from my eyelids to my chin. The roof of my mouth is still completely numb. No feeling what so ever has came back to it yet. I have no pain anywhere. The tightness of the cheek muscles are starting to relax and somewhat head back to normal. I do have a lot more swelling and tightness on my left cheek area. My case is slightly different in that I had all my teeth removed prior to surgery. My next step is to heal a few more weeks and then get fitted for dentures. I’m soon to be 40 yrs old and for the first time in my life, I’m going to have a great smile. One that I’m proud of and not ashamed to show my smile every chance I get. The recovery is slow, but the outcome is a truly wonderful thing. I wish everyone who goes through this a speedy and great recovery with an outcome that greatly exceeds your expectations.
June 6, 2011 at 10:23 am
Hi Genevieve,
This page is a pretty good summary of the most important steps to take to make their recovery more enjoyable.
The 2 pieces of advice I can give are:
1) Be sure they drink as much water as they can, even if it’s via syringe. Try for 1L/day at first (but more is better).
2) Take them out for a walk once or twice per day. Fresh air and seeing people walking their pets will do wonders to one’s attitude. 🙂
Best of luck!