Past, current, and future Jaw Surgery patients Unite!
isa92
Member
Hi congrats on your website it is just great.. have been looking onlinethrough a lot but yours caught me.
my question is about swelling... its been almost 4 weeks after i had lower jaw surgery it was atually pushed back 2mm on eachside.. and now my left side is comletly normall but my right cheek is bigger my parents says is still swollen but is that correct?
how long after was ur face comletly normal?? thanks
mwall
Member
I'm in the exact same boat you are we must have had the same surgeon ; ) haha
My left side has gone down but my lower right jaw is still swollen a little bit. It's noticible. I'm about 5 weeks post-op. It'll go down eventually i've been told. Can't wait.
Brandon
Site Administrator
Hi Isabella,
Thanks!
And yes, I've heard several people have uneven swelling, and it can take a while for those last bits to go away.
Most of mine went away after a few months, but it took over 6 months for it to get completely back down.
Of course, my jaws were moved about 12mm, so hopefully it will go a little faster for you with less movement, but it's completely normal to still be swollen at this point.
Good luck with a speedy rest of recovery, and keep us updated on the swelling...
Cathy Brooks
Member
I had my surgery in Dec 2009. The right side of my face is still slightly more numb and swollen than the left and this has been the case ever since i woke up from my surgery. The same goes for my sinus, upper lip and cheek on the right side of my face.
It should take your face anything between 6 - 9 months to return to normal depending on the individuals ability to heal (we are all different).
This will depend predominantly on how long it takes your nerve endings to knit themselves back together. Your nerve endings are stretched during the operation as your upper and/or lower jaw is pulled forward into its new position and that it what causes the numbness in your face.
According to my surgeon more swelling on one side of the face is a common enough phenomena post jaw surgery. I was curious as to why this was so I read a few peer reviewed medical journals (published papers on the subject) and it turns out that what ever side your surgeon stands on while carrying out the surgery will affect the opposide side of your face. IE: you will possibly experience more swelling/numbness and sinus problems post op. What they havent discovered yet is why this happens but it is attributed to the position and side that the surgeon stands in when carrying out the operation.
Cathy
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