Re: Swelling on the 2 sides of the cheek

[Guest guest]

Hi Irene

The asymetrical swelling is totally normal, or at least my OMS told

me that when I complained about mine. He said that usually people

have more swelling on one side and that does make sense if you think

about the fact that all people have asymetrical faces to begin with.

Anyway, my lopsided swelling lasted well into my 3rd month post-op

but by 2 months post-op I felt that it was already much better. Now

only if I look at myself very closely I can tell that my right cheek

looks different from the left one. I have noticed recently that my

swelling has been going down more and more because I wake up in the

morning with puffy lips (like right after the surgery) as if all the

swelling has drained down from my cheeks into my lips. My lips go

back to normal after I've been up for a while and I actually don't

mind the extra puffiness. Beats botox! Anyway, I'm 4 months and 1

week post-op so slightly ahead of you in the recovery line. This is

all to say that you need to be patient because you are still very

early on in your recovery. My doctor told me that it will take at

least 6 months before I can BEGIN to see the final results and only

at 1 year post-op will I be able to see the final one. This makes

sense to me because I know it takes a full year for the jaw bone to

heal properly and from a previous surgery where I had a rhinoplasty I

know that it takes a long time for the swelling to subside. So

patience my dear!!!

As far as being able to open wide, my OMS told me that regardless of

whether I did exercises or not I would eventually open my mouth the

same width. I've been chewing harder foods for about 2-3 weeks now

and I do think my jaw opening is getting wider but definitely not as

wide before. However, I've decided not to stress about this. I don't

want to be stretching my jaw joints just yet. They've been through so

much already I need to give them a break. The fact that you say one

jaw clicks and slide forwards whereas the other one doesn't worries

me. Please tell your doctor about this. I know that one of my joints

every once in a while when I yawn too wide pops and that really

freaked me out because it used to pop pre-surgery but I thought it

wasn't supposed to post-op. Instead my OMS told me that an occasional

pop is normal because the joint is stilling settling into its new

home.

On your lips not meeting - a lot of this has to do with swelling.

Wait a few more months. Also, if you have braces still on the braces

certainly don't help. Once you get them off the lips should be able

to meet more easily.

Anyway, keep up with the good recovery and remember to stay positive.

You're still early on in the recovery but you've come a long way

since pre-surgery so give yourself a pat on the back for being a star

trouper!!

Sara

Surgery June 6th, 2005

>

> Hi Everyone,

>

> This is my 1-month post-op. Everything is fine. The surgeon told me

> to chew more and exercise the muscles on the cheek more so that I

> may open my mouth as wide as before. I follow what the surgeon has

> told me.

>

> However, I have a few concerns here.

>

> 1. I see more swelling on the right cheek than on the left cheek. I

> also see that the cheekbone on the left is slightly higher than the

> one on the right. Is this normal? I am worried that the swelling on

> the right cheek will never subside so that the 2 sides of my face

> may look quite asymmetric.

>

> 2. When I try to open the mouth wide, the jaw joint on the left

> clicks and protrudes outward a bit. However, I don't see the jaw

> join on the right open as how the left one does. It seems like I

can

> open my mouth wide because of the left jaw joint. Is this normal

> while the face is recovering after the surgery?

>

> 3. My lips still cannot touch each other naturally yet. Is it

> because my teeth in the jaws are still not properly aligned? Well,

> my OD will start working on my teeth again next Wednesday (the

first

> time since the surgery).

>

> 4. How long do I need to wait to see the final result (or expected

> look) of surgery? 6 months? 1 year?

>

> Thanx in advance for any answers.

>

> Irene

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

Thank you very much on the detailed explanation about your

recovering experience. After reading your message, I feel much

better.

I have just come back from the surgeon's office. All of my concerns

I wrote here never alert him at all. Instead, I am doing very well

on the recovery. He also told me to be patient and wait for at least

6 months. I've got an impression from him that my face keeps

changing in the next few months or more.

My worries were just the fact that there were something I wasn't

told in advance. So, when I saw the *unexpected* changes while

recovering, they freaked me out. Haha...

Thanks very much again. I appreciate your patience in explaining all

these to me. Thanx.

Irene