Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 congrats ! how long before all the facial muscles and swelling completely settled... moreover, my OS tells me that the facial muscles need to grow to the next jaw position.. what are your experiences? my OS tells me that it can take over a year .... > Had my final visit yesterday. Asked only one question, is my jaw > opening ok? (since my massage therapist seemed to question it). He > measured, and it's more than I was pre-op, at 40 mm (right in the > middle of the normal span, he said). And not to try to push it any > further as I could do damage. That sounds very sensible, and is > actually what I felt, for myself, that I didn't want to try to push > any further. I just needed to know it from the boss. > > He took final photos, wished me well, shook my hand, and that was it! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 congrats ! how long before all the facial muscles and swelling completely settled... moreover, my OS tells me that the facial muscles need to grow to the next jaw position.. what are your experiences? my OS tells me that it can take over a year .... > Had my final visit yesterday. Asked only one question, is my jaw > opening ok? (since my massage therapist seemed to question it). He > measured, and it's more than I was pre-op, at 40 mm (right in the > middle of the normal span, he said). And not to try to push it any > further as I could do damage. That sounds very sensible, and is > actually what I felt, for myself, that I didn't want to try to push > any further. I just needed to know it from the boss. > > He took final photos, wished me well, shook my hand, and that was it! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Thanks, zulu. Major swelling was gone fairly quickly, but residual swelling can last up to a year. With upper surgery, the upper lip feels stiff for quite awhile, at least in my experience. I did lots of facial exercises (grinning, stretching, puckering, etc). I'm not familiar with the idea of facial muscles growing to the next jaw position, but I can tell you there is an adjustment to the change in position and that the muscles will indeed take time to get used to it. It's really funny to discover how weak the muscles really are once you are unbanded and/or unwired. Even my bite has adjusted in the past 6 months as my ortho switched me from a removeable upper retainer to a fixed wire one. I told my surgeon about it yesterday, and he said that adult teeth have " memory " and want to go back to their old haunts. I think it's the same with muscles. All of this just takes a lot of time and patience. Who knows what normal feels like when things get shifted as much as they often are? I really can't remember what things were like pre-op as I had, in the words of my ortho, " adapted very well " . I am really happy to have a good massage therapist who's helped me a lot through all of this. > > Had my final visit yesterday. Asked only one question, is my jaw > > opening ok? (since my massage therapist seemed to question it). He > > measured, and it's more than I was pre-op, at 40 mm (right in the > > middle of the normal span, he said). And not to try to push it any > > further as I could do damage. That sounds very sensible, and is > > actually what I felt, for myself, that I didn't want to try to > push > > any further. I just needed to know it from the boss. > > > > He took final photos, wished me well, shook my hand, and that was > it! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Thanks, zulu. Major swelling was gone fairly quickly, but residual swelling can last up to a year. With upper surgery, the upper lip feels stiff for quite awhile, at least in my experience. I did lots of facial exercises (grinning, stretching, puckering, etc). I'm not familiar with the idea of facial muscles growing to the next jaw position, but I can tell you there is an adjustment to the change in position and that the muscles will indeed take time to get used to it. It's really funny to discover how weak the muscles really are once you are unbanded and/or unwired. Even my bite has adjusted in the past 6 months as my ortho switched me from a removeable upper retainer to a fixed wire one. I told my surgeon about it yesterday, and he said that adult teeth have " memory " and want to go back to their old haunts. I think it's the same with muscles. All of this just takes a lot of time and patience. Who knows what normal feels like when things get shifted as much as they often are? I really can't remember what things were like pre-op as I had, in the words of my ortho, " adapted very well " . I am really happy to have a good massage therapist who's helped me a lot through all of this. > > Had my final visit yesterday. Asked only one question, is my jaw > > opening ok? (since my massage therapist seemed to question it). He > > measured, and it's more than I was pre-op, at 40 mm (right in the > > middle of the normal span, he said). And not to try to push it any > > further as I could do damage. That sounds very sensible, and is > > actually what I felt, for myself, that I didn't want to try to > push > > any further. I just needed to know it from the boss. > > > > He took final photos, wished me well, shook my hand, and that was > it! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Congratulations !!!! 100% perfect now ;-) I never like saying goodbye, but in this case, I think I will be more than happy to put everything behind me. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Congratulations !!!! 100% perfect now ;-) I never like saying goodbye, but in this case, I think I will be more than happy to put everything behind me. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Hi Ray, No, I'm not 100% perfect, far from it! But yes, it does feel good in a way to be behind all of this. I still have 6 month recalls with my ortho though, but I think by the end of the year I'll be done with him too, it depends on what he says next visit (I just had a fixed wire retainer replace my removeable upper retainer back in April). I really don't want to be visiting a surgeon too often, no matter how good he is. > Congratulations !!!! 100% perfect now ;-) > > I never like saying goodbye, but in this case, I think I will be more than > happy to put everything behind me. > > Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Hi Ray, No, I'm not 100% perfect, far from it! But yes, it does feel good in a way to be behind all of this. I still have 6 month recalls with my ortho though, but I think by the end of the year I'll be done with him too, it depends on what he says next visit (I just had a fixed wire retainer replace my removeable upper retainer back in April). I really don't want to be visiting a surgeon too often, no matter how good he is. > Congratulations !!!! 100% perfect now ;-) > > I never like saying goodbye, but in this case, I think I will be more than > happy to put everything behind me. > > Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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