Guest guest Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Hello , I understand what you are worried about completely. I had upper and lower advancement and it took weeks after the surgery before I could even force my lips together. I couldn't say my " B's or P's " at all. And I would only eat/chew in front of my family. It will get better, but at 3 wks post you still have swelling and your lips need time to conform to the new position on the jaws. Just give it more time. a > > Hi everyone > I'm 3 weeks post op today from upper/lower/genio, and still have my > splint in. Before surgery I had about 4 mm of lip incompetence. My > surgeon said that the surgery would give my lips the best chance of > meeting, but that there was no guarantee that they would. He also > gave me exercises to do after the surgery. I do them all the time, > but my lips look worse to me than they were before! I used to > (before surgery) conciously put them together all the time, but now I > find that extremely difficult. My surgeon says that I shouldn't > worry about this yet, that a lot will change over the next three > months or so, but I'm so worried about not being able to close my > mouth to chew when I finally do get the ok to eat again! Plus > between that and the residual swelling, I get upset everytime I look > in the mirror. > Did anyone else have lip incompetence after surgery? Did it resolve > itself or just stay the same? Thanks for letting me vent about it, > at any rate > - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 , I'm hoping your results in this area are better than mine. I had lip incompetence prior to my jaw advancement surgery and genioplsaty. I expected it to fixed, and it wasn't . I don't even think it was improved or at the best, perhaps only a small amount. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to find any help on this issue. I have subsequently had a second genioplasty as my chin was very recessive and still looked bad after the first surgery. This surgery was just two months ago and I had a rather incredible 15mm of advancement. Nonetheless, the lips still don't close and I really didn't expect the additional genioplasty to help it. If anyone knows surgeons who seem to care about this frustrating type of problem I would perhaps like to talk to them. Not all is bad though, I finally have my dream of a normal profile, now I just need lips that close at rest. > > Hi everyone > I'm 3 weeks post op today from upper/lower/genio, and still have my > splint in. Before surgery I had about 4 mm of lip incompetence. My > surgeon said that the surgery would give my lips the best chance of > meeting, but that there was no guarantee that they would. He also > gave me exercises to do after the surgery. I do them all the time, > but my lips look worse to me than they were before! I used to > (before surgery) conciously put them together all the time, but now I > find that extremely difficult. My surgeon says that I shouldn't > worry about this yet, that a lot will change over the next three > months or so, but I'm so worried about not being able to close my > mouth to chew when I finally do get the ok to eat again! Plus > between that and the residual swelling, I get upset everytime I look > in the mirror. > Did anyone else have lip incompetence after surgery? Did it resolve > itself or just stay the same? Thanks for letting me vent about it, > at any rate > - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 , I'm hoping your results in this area are better than mine. I had lip incompetence prior to my jaw advancement surgery and genioplsaty. I expected it to fixed, and it wasn't . I don't even think it was improved or at the best, perhaps only a small amount. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to find any help on this issue. I have subsequently had a second genioplasty as my chin was very recessive and still looked bad after the first surgery. This surgery was just two months ago and I had a rather incredible 15mm of advancement. Nonetheless, the lips still don't close and I really didn't expect the additional genioplasty to help it. If anyone knows surgeons who seem to care about this frustrating type of problem I would perhaps like to talk to them. Not all is bad though, I finally have my dream of a normal profile, now I just need lips that close at rest. > > Hi everyone > I'm 3 weeks post op today from upper/lower/genio, and still have my > splint in. Before surgery I had about 4 mm of lip incompetence. My > surgeon said that the surgery would give my lips the best chance of > meeting, but that there was no guarantee that they would. He also > gave me exercises to do after the surgery. I do them all the time, > but my lips look worse to me than they were before! I used to > (before surgery) conciously put them together all the time, but now I > find that extremely difficult. My surgeon says that I shouldn't > worry about this yet, that a lot will change over the next three > months or so, but I'm so worried about not being able to close my > mouth to chew when I finally do get the ok to eat again! Plus > between that and the residual swelling, I get upset everytime I look > in the mirror. > Did anyone else have lip incompetence after surgery? Did it resolve > itself or just stay the same? Thanks for letting me vent about it, > at any rate > - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Hi , I had something like 11 mm incompetence before the surgery (upper + genio, going on 6 weeks ago). My surgeon said we could get minimize that but gave no guarantee that they'd close completely (at least not without effort). I think I've probably got about 3 mm incompetence now -- not perfect, but a definite improvement. It definitely took several weeks to be able to bring my lips together at all, though, so try not to worry -- don't underestimate the effects of swelling and numbness. And I know it's hard to look in the mirror -- the other week, I looked in the mirror and started crying because I thought I looked like the kid in " Mask " ! In some ways, I find the swelling to be emotionally harder to deal with than the bruising (even though my bruising was EXTREME). With bruising, it's obvious where it is and that it will go away relatively quickly -- but with the swelling, sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what's going to go away (not to mention *when* it will be gone!) vs. what's actually just part of your new bone structure. Definitely weird and unsettling, but I think it's perfectly normal to feel that way (at least that's what I keep telling myself!). Sara > > Hi everyone > I'm 3 weeks post op today from upper/lower/genio, and still have my > splint in. Before surgery I had about 4 mm of lip incompetence. My > surgeon said that the surgery would give my lips the best chance of > meeting, but that there was no guarantee that they would. He also > gave me exercises to do after the surgery. I do them all the time, > but my lips look worse to me than they were before! I used to > (before surgery) conciously put them together all the time, but now I > find that extremely difficult. My surgeon says that I shouldn't > worry about this yet, that a lot will change over the next three > months or so, but I'm so worried about not being able to close my > mouth to chew when I finally do get the ok to eat again! Plus > between that and the residual swelling, I get upset everytime I look > in the mirror. > Did anyone else have lip incompetence after surgery? Did it resolve > itself or just stay the same? Thanks for letting me vent about it, > at any rate > - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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