time off after surgery?

[kelse]

Totally jumping the gun here as I don't even have my brace yet lol. But anyway - how long did you take off work after your operation? After my 18 months or so of braces I will be having double jaw surgery so just wondering about timescales for revovery for work. Thanks in advance.

[Leebie3]

Hi Kelse

I'm having double surg too.. pretty sure they recommend 4 weeks but of course it goes by how ready you feel after that.

[kpw818]

I'm just getting started too. I plan now (way ahead) to take off at least a full week, and maybe some work from home for 1-2 weeks after that. I can handle most stuff by email, so if I feel up to it and my co-workers can handle the potato head, I'll probably go in as soon as I feel like it. I know I've seen some people go back around two weeks (probably depends on your job)

[Leebie3]

wowsers.. def not only 1 week! You'd still be recovering from the anaesthetic alone at that time..

[bmueller]

It depends on your individual recovery progress and what is required of your job.

I doubt anyone can be fully functional at 1 week.

I took off 3 weeks. I told my employer possibly up to 6 weeks depending on my progress. I have a desk job so I was able to take it slow for the first week or so back.

I was splinted shut longer than I expected and could not be understood by anyone and could only eat clear liquids for those 3 weeks so I did not have the energy to go back to work.

[Alicia110613]

2 - 3 weeks should be enough if you have an office job.

[survenant]

My surgeon has insisted that I take at least 4 weeks since I've had a double jaw surgery + genioplasty. However, I feel fine after 3 weeks and I feel I could go to work tomorrow.

[BracketBaring]

How much time you need off really depends on the type of work you do. No matter what your job though, I would recommend at least 1 week off. Your body needs that time to rest and heal, and you will be very busy just trying to consume enough calories if you have to eat everything through a syringe, like I did. I took 3 weeks off work after my double jaw surgery, only because I have to constantly orally communicate with patients and physicians all day at work. It was a bit tough to talk still at that point, but I got it done. Physically though, I was able to get around pretty good around 5 days post-op, and was able to hand wash and wax my car (hey, I was bored and it needed done). If I didn't have to talk all day at work, I could have gone back after 7 days post-op. I didn't take any pain meds though, so your mileage may vary...

[davinci7]

My doctor gave me a medical certificate for 8 weeks and I thought he was being extremely liberal. But at the end of the 8 weeks I realized that it actually did take me this long to recover. Yes I did go back to work a couple of weeks after surgery, but lucky for me I could take my time and only do what I could cope with. I couldn't really speak well (without pain or discomfort) for nearly 6 weeks and even at 12 weeks, eating was just becoming normal again. I still suffer from a little soreness from time to time (I'm now 14 weeks).
So it is a LONG recovery and it's best to prepare for it.

[samoorelaw]

I only need upper jaw surgery and the plan is for me to have 1 week off completely, and the 2nd week I will work from home. My surgeon recommended at least 2 weeks off but my orthodontist told me that one of his patients just had surgery on the lower jaw and was able to return to work after one week. Goes to show everyone is different. I'm hoping I will be able to work from home my second week because I won't have enough leave time to take more than one week off and my braces and surgery are all coming out of pocket: my dental insurance only covers braces up until the age of 19 (isn't that just lovely?) and my medical insurance has an automatic exclusion for orthognathic surgery regardless of whether it's a medical necessity. I hate united healthcare.

[survenant]

AFAIK the upper jaw surgery is worse than a lower jaw surgery as far as healing go plus every experience is unique. I think you should at least take 2 weeks off. I had a double jaw surgery, I lost 1 Liter of blood and I had trouble reading for the first week and a half (headaches, sensitivity to light, anemia, etc.).

[redwine]

Gotta say, I was a bit relieved to see that upper jaw surgery is worse than lower jaw surgery. I'm having lower jaw advancement sometime - whenever my teeth are properly in place. With any luck, I'll find out the beginning of next month. Anyhow, I had SARPE and had to stay overnight because of bleeding. Went home and stayed home for a whole week. Went to work for 6 hrs a day for a couple of days, then back to normal - although my co-workers had to look at my black, blue & swollen face. Then I had to have bones re-broken a month in and took a couple of days off for that. All in all, I think I was "in recovery" for about 10 days total. Planning on two full weeks for lower jaw, and if I can go back sooner, I probably will (and use my days off for something fun!). I have a desk job so that helps a lot. Best of luck - I've found this board to be a marvelous help in both planning and recovery!