Need some reassurance please

[Guest guest]

I'm about 6 weeks post op(lower jaw) and since immediately after

surgery,my right side has been quite a bit worse than my left side.

It is still tender and a bit swollen, and about 5 -8 times a day

I'll do something and get a " jolt " of pain on that side.(By moving

it just slightly, or maybe smiling too big) Should I be worried? I'm

supposed to be on " soft " food still, which I am, but my OS warned me

that too much stress on my jaw could create scar tissue. I'm 2 weeks

away from a visit and am starting to panic that every piece of pasta

or graham cracker I've slipped in has permenately damaged me. Why is

one side so much worse than the other?

[Guest guest]

HI Bonnie

Thought I'd reply as I feel exactly the same as you.

My left side seems worse than my right - like you say by smiling,

stifling a yawn or sneeze or making a small move its quite tender.

I'm also getting a sharp stab of pain in my left temple area. I am

still congested in the sinuses - I wonder if that plays a part in it.

LIke you I panic about whether I've done something wrong - with me

its an elastic issue. At 3 weeks when my splint came out my ortho

instructed me to put in elastics - I started at 4 weeks as I had

such a sore mouth ulcer I couldn't get them in. Anyway the first

night the elastic took off a dodgy bracket. I went to get it re-

bonded but the ortho (not my own) said as he couldn't get in my

mouth he couldn't do it and removed the bracket as well as one next

to it which was also loose.

He asked me to stretch the elastic a bit further to teeth in front

of my usual elastic hooks but I find it so painful I'm ripping them

out at 6 in the morning and some nights I haven't at all. I'm

supposed to wear them 12 hours. It also takes me at least 10

minutes to get them hooked on to my back wisdom teeth cos I can't

get two fingers in my mouth!

As I'm a natural born worried I wonder whether I'm doing any damage.

Best wishes

Sue (UK)

[Guest guest]

Sue, you're not asking the right folks here.

I think these jaws are not as fragile as we believe them to be, and

that, as my surgeon's partner who assisted him told me: " The only way

you're likely to do any real damage is if you fall, and you are NOT

going to fall. (But Doc, one of my problems is that I do fall, a lot,

because I can't feel my feet! And my balance is screwed up.) If you

think you are going to fall, SIT DOWN! " Good advice, if you can

manage it.

Since then, I have fallen on a brick courtyard, twice. I have fallen

once on the carpet in our office (when my boss was plowing around one

angle of a corner, and I was plowing around the other). Stumbled,

tumbled in other places, too -- but somehow I seem to manage to

protect my face and jaw. Wonder why?

I also think a variety of stabs, tingles, prickles, etc., are quite

usual for folks who have had numbness. The nerves are telling you

they want to go back to work! That's a good sign.

You can slow things with your ortho treatment down, though, or make

them more complex. And if I had a bracket that had come off and knew

about it, I'd let my surgeon know at once. Via someone in his office,

if need be. Particularly if it involved post-op elastics. I had a

bracket that came loose in the course of surgery, and didn't even

know it until I returned to my ortho at about 7 weeks.

Let them know if you can't get the elastics in place, for whatever

reason, and let them make the decisions! Neither you nor I knows

enough about these procedures to do so.

Best,

Cammie

> HI Bonnie

>

> Thought I'd reply as I feel exactly the same as you.

>

> My left side seems worse than my right - like you say by smiling,

> stifling a yawn or sneeze or making a small move its quite

tender.

> I'm also getting a sharp stab of pain in my left temple area. I am

> still congested in the sinuses - I wonder if that plays a part in

it.

>

> LIke you I panic about whether I've done something wrong - with me

> its an elastic issue. At 3 weeks when my splint came out my ortho

> instructed me to put in elastics - I started at 4 weeks as I had

> such a sore mouth ulcer I couldn't get them in. Anyway the first

> night the elastic took off a dodgy bracket. I went to get it re-

> bonded but the ortho (not my own) said as he couldn't get in my

> mouth he couldn't do it and removed the bracket as well as one next

> to it which was also loose.

>

> He asked me to stretch the elastic a bit further to teeth in front

> of my usual elastic hooks but I find it so painful I'm ripping them

> out at 6 in the morning and some nights I haven't at all. I'm

> supposed to wear them 12 hours. It also takes me at least 10

> minutes to get them hooked on to my back wisdom teeth cos I can't

> get two fingers in my mouth!

>

> As I'm a natural born worried I wonder whether I'm doing any damage.

>

> Best wishes

> Sue (UK)

[Guest guest]

Thanks for responding Sue! It's good to hear that there are others

who worry about things as well. Last night my 4 year old crawled in

bed with me and during the night she turned over and flung her leg

right smack on my jaw (the bad side). OUCH!!!! I could just about

feel the scar tissue forming and went to sleep w/nightmares of

needing a repeat surgery to repair the damage I was sure she had

just done. It reminds me of all the worrying I did while I was

pregnant. It's hard when you can't " see " what's going on inside, so

I imagine the worst. Thanks for the moral support! Hope your bands

give you less grief soon!!!

> HI Bonnie

>

> Thought I'd reply as I feel exactly the same as you.

>

> My left side seems worse than my right - like you say by smiling,

> stifling a yawn or sneeze or making a small move its quite

tender.

> I'm also getting a sharp stab of pain in my left temple area. I

am

> still congested in the sinuses - I wonder if that plays a part in

it.

>

> LIke you I panic about whether I've done something wrong - with me

> its an elastic issue. At 3 weeks when my splint came out my ortho

> instructed me to put in elastics - I started at 4 weeks as I had

> such a sore mouth ulcer I couldn't get them in. Anyway the first

> night the elastic took off a dodgy bracket. I went to get it re-

> bonded but the ortho (not my own) said as he couldn't get in my

> mouth he couldn't do it and removed the bracket as well as one

next

> to it which was also loose.

>

> He asked me to stretch the elastic a bit further to teeth in front

> of my usual elastic hooks but I find it so painful I'm ripping

them

> out at 6 in the morning and some nights I haven't at all. I'm

> supposed to wear them 12 hours. It also takes me at least 10

> minutes to get them hooked on to my back wisdom teeth cos I can't

> get two fingers in my mouth!

>

> As I'm a natural born worried I wonder whether I'm doing any

damage.

>

> Best wishes

> Sue (UK)