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 10, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Went back to my surgeon for my 3 week checkup for my double jaw surgery on April 19th. He said things were healing as they should. I still have a lot of swelling in my cheeks and the cheek muscles are hard as stone still. Docs advice me to keep exercising my mouth by puckering and smiling to help get cheek muscles back to working order. It’s amazing at how much this surgery has changed me for the better, looks, breathing and eating ability. I still cannot chew or bite at the moment, but I can tell my jaw muscles are getting stronger as time goes by. I tear of food and swallow it the best I can for now. Had to get away from the liquid diet,lol…I’ve lost 30+ lbs already. I’m just very anxious to see the final outcome of my healing. For those of you that are gonna have the surgery or thinking about the surgery….please have it done, you will be amazed at the outcome.
May 10, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Hi Lewis,
Your bone will be all healed up at 3 months post-op. You’ll be completely back to normal at about 6-9 months post-op. By “back to normal,” I mean you’ll be eating anything you want, most of your numbness will be gone and you’ll more or less be in the same place as you were before surgery (except your bite will actually work, yay!).
May 10, 2011 at 12:18 pm
omg lewis i am also gonna have my jaw surgery in chelmsford next year let me know how it goes hope it goes okay
May 10, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Hi. Im due to have my double jaw surgery on the 1st of june in chelmsford England. I was and am still a little anxious. However I am sooooo relieved that so many people are having or have had simular fears. Thanks to Graham and everybody else I have a huge shopping list for recovery aids. (Tech spec) I have mandibular excess of 15 mm (advised average is 8mm) and a cross bite to add to my troubles. Really hope i am as happy as all of you when its all done. Just 1 question how long on average would you say full reovery is?.
Thanks Lewis
May 10, 2011 at 6:22 am
Monica, you sound like you’re in a very similar place as I was at three weeks post-op.
The numbness and tingling will hang around for at least another month to month and a half. It’ll dissipate in a very gradual fashion.
Your recovery seems to be proceeding as expected though, so you have nothing to worry about. =)
May 9, 2011 at 9:28 pm
I had Upper/lower Jaw surgery April 19,2011 & i was unwired on 5/4/11. Simple liquid diet, tried some grinded food, but made to hard to eat. I was in hospital for 2 day’s, when i came home that saturday my face got more swollen. All my stiching was done in my inside of my mouth and i had slight brusing, thats because i iced my face alot, now i use heat(microwave) towels about 3 times a day and message my face, but i still get a tingle sensation in my chin area and my right side is still hard and puffy, i have no feeling in my lips and since i still have a splint on, my eating is still soft foods, but hard to eat with a utencil so i use my fingers. I exercise my mouth. My only thing i would like to know is how long will this numb/tingling take.
May 9, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Good Luck! i got my jaw surgery next year i keep backing out but made my mind up i WILL go though with it becoz i can sense getin jaw pains now and in the future. Good luck
May 8, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Depends on what “older” is,lol. I’m soon to be 40 and had the double jaw surgery on April 19,2011. Had my surgery in Charlotte,NC.
May 8, 2011 at 8:02 pm
I’m 36 hours from my double jaw surgery at The Ohio State University. Feeling a bit anxious and nervous. Any ‘older’ folks out there? I’m 46 years old.
May 7, 2011 at 1:10 am
okay thanks i think just thinking about somebody cutting ma mouth open freaks me out and i really dont understand how everybody is so positive about this but i AM glad you are. my parents were like its entirely up to u and we will support u. first i was like I AM so brave if i can get ma teeth taken out and walk home with a bloody mouth and swollen cheek then i can do this too but as the time is getting nearer ma fears are just starting to increase 🙁
May 6, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Each case is gonna be similar but yet different if that makes any sense…..my first few days I had very little pain, mainly because I was well medicated with pain medicine……I’m by my own choice having to feel a lil more pain than maybe some others because I have taken myself off of the pain meds, one reason being that it makes me sick(nausea). I’m very sensitive to pain meds…..but thats me and thats why I say each case is different…..what works for me may not work for you or vice versa. The main thing that works for everyone, no matter who you are—is to have a positive outlook on the whole ordeal. Oh, and I’m in the USA.
May 6, 2011 at 4:06 pm
scottie YOUR THE BEST! thankYOU for answering ma breathing question it is always great to know somebody who goes through the same thing your about to go through. can i know if you are from uk, england or somewhere else? yes your right today i was trying to eat with ma other teeth apart from ma back teeth was impossible. plus can i know how much pain you went through in the first couple days as i hate pain more than the swelling 🙁 thanks again
May 6, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Iqra, as for my breathing after the operation….in the hospital they used an oxygen mask that had a saline solution added to it, so that the air I breathed was not just dry air. plus they gave me a nasal spray to use and trust me,it helps. A decongestant will also help. when I got home, I used Q-tips to help keep the yucky stuff out of my nose…but if you do, just use caution and not jam it up your nose,lol. Mainly, as each day passes, my breathing thru my nose gets better…..and to tell you the honest truth…even a couple hours after surgery with all my nose had gone thru in surgery,I could still breath better thru my nose after surgery, then before surgery. No matter what negative thoughts you have about the surgery or recovery…..the upside and the benefits of having the surgery will far outway any negative side.
May 6, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Okay Ta!!! Well as my surgery date gets closer I will write more to u telling u about my freak outs and maybe ask for more tips…so in advance please dont get fed up of me…this is the only site ive found re-assuring…because I have been so freaked out last few days thinking I wont be able to breath after surgery and what not…but i guess that we all have similiar freak outs….
Thanks in advance….By the way ur “before teeth” are way better than mine, most of your teeth kind of look like they are biting together so i don’t understand why your operation took so long :S anyways thanks once again!!
May 6, 2011 at 1:53 pm
The nurses at the hospital will help you along during your stay, but once you’re home, you need to take care of yourself. You’re not allowed to blow your noses for several weeks, so that’s out of the question.
The best thing you can do is to pickup the medicine they prescribe to you. They’ll likely give you a decongestant to help keep your sinuses as clear as possible.
You’ll be fine. 🙂 I had no real issues with breathing after surgery.
May 6, 2011 at 1:42 pm
By the Way do U have any tips on how to get through the breathing problem? I heard upper jaw surgery causing a lot of breathing problem as the nose is stuffed….anything that can be bought to help with this situation? Or does the hospital provide you with things? My surgeon said that they usually use an oxygen mask when the patient is waking up from surgery
May 6, 2011 at 9:17 am
Oh scottie well u were just like the way i AM now! I breath through ma mouth only 🙁 so how Did u manage to cope with breathing problems after the surgery?
May 6, 2011 at 7:45 am
Thank U. Well i am have an open bite so i think I am only having upper jaw surgery as the surgeon said my operation will take 3 hours :s
Yes I guess your right its not life or death…..but feels like it right now lol probably because i am thinking things in my head that could go wrong…Thanks for the blogs….youtube freaked me out big time…thank god your pictures didnt lol
May 6, 2011 at 7:39 am
Iqra, you’ll be perfectly fine. The first few weeks are really just an inconvenience–they’re not life or death kind of days.
You’ll definitely have difficulty eating, talking, sleeping and breathing, but you’ll still be able to, ya’know, survive. 😛 Once your swelling begins to clear, breathing through your nose is a wonderful experience as well!
When it comes to breathing, I had no issues at all. It was the least of my concerns. Just don’t freak out. If you think you’re having trouble getting enough air, just go outside, sit down, and breathe slowly for a few minutes.
Best of luck, my friend!
May 6, 2011 at 6:48 am
Wow that’s great. so should i be getting scared About this operation? i have a year to go and i AM already losing sleep over this about how much pain and swelling i AM going to go through. i think i AM thinking worse than it will be and i can’t wait to get this over and done with. 🙁