Post-Jaw Surgery – Week 7 & 8: Say Ah!

I have stopped taking daily photographs since my wires got debanded. I now take photos once a week during the weekends. I will post whatever information I left out about my whole journey over time. I should be able to make one or more posts every week.

The muscles around my face still feel tight. I have to try to restrain myself from laughing too hard because it strains the area below my nose. The right side is still more swollen than the left side. It feels bigger and tighter too. I can feel a spot on the right side of my mouth that hurts when I press on it. I need to get this checked by my doctor next week. I hope it is nothing serious.

I have some pimples on the left and right side of my face where the swelling and numbness persists. This is annoying but it is not a disaster. The bumps on the left and right side of my face are still visible and I hope they go away.

I feel a lot better now because I have been eating well and most of my chewing strength and motion seems to be back. I would say I feel 65% right now.

Orthodontist Said He Can’t Do Anything Yet…

Last week (7th week post-jaw surgery), I went to visit my orthodontist. I waited for a long time before I could see him and he asked me to open my mouth as wide as I could. I could only manage a little more than an index finger’s width in between my upper and lower teeth.

My orthodontist was not pleased. He expected too see at least a width of 2 fingers in between my teeth and he asked me if I had been practising my mouth stretches.

To be perfectly honest, I have not done it as much as I should because the first week after my wires were debanded, it hurt just to open my mouth very wide. 2 weeks after my wires came off, I still felt uncomfortable stretching my jaw muscles by opening my mouth as wide as I could for 10 seconds.

It was not until my 8th week that I felt okay opening my mouth as wide as I could without feeling any pain. I do feel a nice stretch but it does not hurt like before.

My trip to the orthodontist was a wasted trip. He refused to do anything and I have yet to start my post-surgery orthodontic treatment. I was debanded on week 5 and it is now almost week 9. I will see my orthodontist again on week 10, so that’s 5 weeks after I got my wires removed.

I was not expecting such a long delay before I can resume my orthodontic treatment. The annoying surgical hooks are still on my teeth right now. Personally, I believe the orthodontist could have at least done some cleaning or tightening up of the braces. That’s not for me to decide and I hope the next visit will be a fruitful one. If not, I will have to look for another dentist!

I simply do not believe in putting up with poor service because it takes me a lot of time and effort to get to the dentist’s place and I have to pay him on each visit.

Post-Jaw Surgery Photos: Week 7

7 Weeks Post-Jaw Surgery: Front View

7 Weeks Post-Jaw Surgery: Side View

Post-Jaw Surgery Photos: Week 8

8 Weeks Post-Jaw Surgery: Front View

8 Weeks Post-Jaw Surgery: Side View

Tomorrow will be the beginning of week 9. Time flies and I am beginning to forget I even had corrective jaw surgery.

People who have not seen me in a while tell me I look different and better. Only 1 or 2 people say they prefer the old look. I personally prefer my new facial profile because I think my features look more balanced and in harmony.

The recovery process took its toll on my body. I still feel relatively weak right now because my fitness level has gone down a lot. I need to get my body back into shape by doing more yoga and exercises.

I still do not feel comfortable jumping or running because it adds a lot of stress to my jaws. Some yoga postures strain my jaw bones too and I have to avoid resting my chin on the ground for some yoga postures.

This is all temporary and it will go away soon. I need to get fit again because I feel like I lack the edge that I used to have. I don’t know, I just feel a lot weaker and less determined as before. I feel like the fire in my belly is not burning as hot as it should.