opening mouth (2 weeks post op)

June 24, 2004

I am exactly 2 weeks post surgery today- I had my lower jaw moved

back to fix an underbite. things are finally really starting to get

better . My question is: originally, I was wearing a rubber badn on

each side until tuesday all the time. On tuesday the doctor said i

could just wear them at night. However, I still can barely open my

mouth. (I can probably fit in a little more than my thumb) It's not

even that it hurts to open it more, but it's jsu tnot possible. How

long does it typically take to be able to open your mouth wide again

if you are just on rubber bands (no wiring). Thanks a bunch

--Also--is anyone else having weird things going on with their tongue

lol? Mine always feels weird and has the weirdest taste- any

suggestions?

June 24, 2004

hi,

i just found this group, and boy am I glad to see other people going through the

same

stuff! this is so nice!

anyways, i'm just over two weeks post surgery. I think we had basically the

same surgery.

I had my lower jaw moved back too.

What i'm concerned about with you is that my doc told me I'd have to be in a

bunch of

rubber bands for around 6 weeks, and then after that only at night for two more

weeks. I

guess we are in different situations with our doctors, and obviously different

doctors. So i

assume it should take somewhere around that long (six weeks or so) for you/us to

be able

to open our mouths all the way again.

I know with my surgery, they had to move a bunch of muscle out of the way to get

to the

bone. That, combined with the fact that the muscles probably atrophied (i

probably

spelled that wrong, but whatever) after just plain not being used while the jaw

was wired

shut, makes the muscles really weak. So my doc has me keeping the bands on for

a while

so I can sorta exercise my jaw back into shape.

It sounds pretty frustrating to have those bands off and not be able to open

your mouth.

At least with the bands on you have a better reason for not being able to open

your mouth

more than half an inch than " it just doesn't work. " At least that's what I

figure, even

though it sucks to have these damn bands in my mouth.

about your tongue, if it feels numb, you should probably tell your doc.

otherwise i'm not

sure. in terms of the weird taste, try popping in a breathmint and see if that

helps.

ttfn!

matt

> I am exactly 2 weeks post surgery today- I had my lower jaw moved

> back to fix an underbite. things are finally really starting to get

> better . My question is: originally, I was wearing a rubber badn on

> each side until tuesday all the time. On tuesday the doctor said i

> could just wear them at night. However, I still can barely open my

> mouth. (I can probably fit in a little more than my thumb) It's not

> even that it hurts to open it more, but it's jsu tnot possible. How

> long does it typically take to be able to open your mouth wide again

> if you are just on rubber bands (no wiring). Thanks a bunch

> --Also--is anyone else having weird things going on with their tongue

> lol? Mine always feels weird and has the weirdest taste- any

> suggestions?

June 24, 2004

I was on rubber bands at night only after the first 2 weeks. I am at

6 weeks post op now. I barely have a 2 finger opening. Really, for

the 1st month, I was at 1 finger. It takes time. I don't understand

why the opening is restricted, since I only had upper jaw surgery. I

guess all the muscles just get shocked and torn.