2 months post op - difficulty with mouth opening

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#1 Post by **ali01** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:37 pm

Hey everyone.
I am 2 months post op - almost 3 from my lower jaw surgery and chin. Although i am very happy with the results, i am a little worried about opening my mouth. I can only open about 2 fingers wide still. Also, when i open my mouth, i feel this awkward pinching on the left side of my jaw. (this pinching is also there when i sneeze and yawn). i asked my surgen about this and he thinks it is to do with the muscles trying to get used to the jaw position. I am a little worried. Any comments please??

#2 Post by **blindboarder2008** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:39 pm

hmmm your surgeon could very well be right about your muscles still trying to get used to the new things. I don't have real life experience with this but it seems to me I have read about other people running into this same problem on this board. Best of luck with the rest of your recovery, how is talking going?????????

#3 Post by **Skitters** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:05 pm

Ali01 - I am about 3 months post op from double jaw surgery and I think we are experiencing the EXACT same "problems". I can just barely fit 2 fingers in my mouth (it takes some stretching and massaging of my jaw to work up to 2 fingers) and the left side of my jaw hurts (like a pinching feeling) whenever I open my mouth and sometimes when I swallow or even just move my tongue just right. I have been having this pain for about 2-3 weeks now and have not yet asked my surgeon about it, but I assume it is my muscles getting resituated. I noticed that if I stand in a hot shower and just massage the left side of my mouth, it feels SOOO much better...only temporarily though.

My orthodontist isn't too awfully concerned about my 2 finger ROM at this point. He said everyone regains movement at different rates. He did tell me he could get me into physical therapy for it if I wanted to do that. Mabe you should look into that if you're really concerned.

If the pain continues I will talk to my surgeon, but I think this is just a normal part of healing. Our poor mouths were pretty tore up during surgery and I think it will take awhile before everything gets back to normal.

#4 Post by **ali01** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:12 pm

Thanks for the responses! Even though i'm so far post op, i still worry that something has/will go wrong (i know, sounds silly

)

Talking is going pretty well.. i used to tire out very easily, which im sure everyone can relate to. I was fortunate and did not have a lisp, which made it much easier to return to work/uni.

Skitters, glad to hear someone who has also experienced the same thing! Wish you all the best with your recovery.

#5 Post by **Thathrill** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:49 am

Give it some more time. you will soon notice that you will gain more ROM pretty soon. For me I was about 2 finger width for a long time and eventually I was back to normal.

#6 Post by **OzzysMom** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:02 pm

Same here. My ROM was about 2 fingers for a long time. I just passed my 6 month post-surg mark and still have a ways to go.
I've found that by doing exercises holding my mouth open with my fingers as much as I can until I feel the muscles relax has helped me a lot.
Best wishes on a great recovery!

#7 Post by **newsboysgrl777** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:26 pm

hey all, just wanted to point you to a blog that is EXTREMELY detailed..it's all about how this girl went through her surgery and everything and what she did to help herself heal, etc. She also takes questions and answers them for you and I know this could be extremely helpful. The site is http://www.smilingbella.com. Maybe you've heard of it/seen it? Either way, she talks about her ability to open her mouth and how far at what length of time post-op a lot...so I thought of it. good luck to all of you and I hope her site can be helpful to you!!!

#8 Post by **newsboysgrl777** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:28 pm

Here is her VERY FIRST POST, in case you'd like to read it chronologically, etc.

Although I didn't have surgery (and hopefully won't need it), I read the entire blog up to this date because it's so detailed and helpful.

Here is the URL: http://www.smilingbella.com/2008/02/let ... -good.html

#9 Post by **Polly** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:48 am

I was months before I could open my mouth properly. Eventually the surgeon gave me excercises to do. He sent me home with a bag of tongue pressers (large lollypop sticks) I had to place as many as I could flat side down between my front teeth, then I had to foricbly tap another one in inbetween those to force the jaw open a bit wider, leave them there for a minute and take them out. Repeating the process as often as I could. Somedays I could get 2 extra sticks in, others just one. I started at managing a 7 stick opening and ended up at 27

It hurts and is uncomfortable at first but has been well worth it.

Polly x

#10 Post by **brendan** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:11 pm

I started my jaw excercises at 14 days. Id say I can open my mouth about 1.5-2 fingers right now at around 2.8 weeks

#11 Post by **TinaAH** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:24 pm

I continue to be so grateful for this forum. I'm at 10 days post op and I have just been starting to worry about this today. I can barely get my mouth open, even though there's really no pain. Its like my jaw is locked at about 1.5 fingers. I'm going to work at getting it more flexible, but its very reassuring to know that I may have to get used to this for awhile and there's nothing really wrong with it. Thanks everyone!

--Tina