Guest guest Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 On muscle spasms: I had these too and my OMS explained that it was basically my muscle getting used to its new position and not being in quite so much tension as it had been for the past 27 years. When ever the spasms got to be too painful during the first 4 weeks ost-op I would take a codeine and paracetomol concoction that knocked me out good. I was glad to come off that eventually and moved down to plain old Motrin and have since found that helps. I don't know if your wired shut, banded, splinted or none of the above. I was splinted and banded shut for the first 3 weeks then moved onto bands only at night. Now at 9 weeks post op I still wear my bands at night. I find that on a few nights when i forgot to put the bands in, the following day my jaw muscles ached more. On swelling: around the nose and under your chin is where the swelling will take the longest to subside. Try manually massaging yourself to help get the circulation and tissues flowing in that area. I found that arnica also helped tremendously. It can be taken either as a cream, gel, pill or liquid. I applied cream to my swollen areas every night for the first 4 weeks post-op then I moved to simply taking 10 drops of liquid arnica with a small glass of water every day. Most of all I found just walking around and doing simple exercise helped reduce the swelling. The important thing is to be patient as the swelling and numbness is probably one of the longer parts of recovery to go back to normal. Good luck! Sara Surgery June 6th, 2005 Upper jaw moved up and back, lower jaw moved up, 4mm palet expansion, 2 upper bicuspids removed and genio > Hi. I've been reading the site for a couple weeks but haven't > introduced myself. I had upper and lower jaw surgery July 13. Mostly > I'm recovering fine but I think I have a muscle spasm on one side of > jaw. I was wondering if anyone had advise for dealing with this. > Also, anyone have suggestions on how to deal with the swelling at 3 > weeks out. I still have swelling around my nose and under my chin. > > Thanks so much, > radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Thanks Sara, I am banded shut, with a splint. But my OS is taking off the splint on Thursday (yay!) and then putting on some loose bands just to prevent me from openning too wide. Where do you get arnica? Is it a medical thing or at the health store? Thanks again! Radha > > Hi. I've been reading the site for a couple weeks but haven't > > introduced myself. I had upper and lower jaw surgery July 13. Mostly > > I'm recovering fine but I think I have a muscle spasm on one side of > > jaw. I was wondering if anyone had advise for dealing with this. > > Also, anyone have suggestions on how to deal with the swelling at 3 > > weeks out. I still have swelling around my nose and under my chin. > > > > Thanks so much, > > radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Radha, I actually got my arnica from back home in Italy, where I am from. However I am told by other members on this site who also used arnica during their recovery that most health stores will sell it and if not a homeopathic center definitely will. It's also a good idea to consult a homeopath if possible about what sort of doses you should be taking because taking too much arnica can actually have the opposite desired effect and increase swelling (only if taken in pills and liquid form though). Good luck with your splint removal. It felt so weird for me when they removed mine. I was terrorized everything would fall apart but it didn't and it felt great to be able to brush up there again! Sara > > > Hi. I've been reading the site for a couple weeks but haven't > > > introduced myself. I had upper and lower jaw surgery July 13. Mostly > > > I'm recovering fine but I think I have a muscle spasm on one side of > > > jaw. I was wondering if anyone had advise for dealing with this. > > > Also, anyone have suggestions on how to deal with the swelling at 3 > > > weeks out. I still have swelling around my nose and under my chin. > > > > > > Thanks so much, > > > radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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