Double Jaw Surgery — A Super Speedy Recovery on a Liquid Diet
What is Double Jaw Surgery?
Double jaw surgery or as my surgeon refers to it as bi-maxillary osteotomy is a type of orthognathic surgery. There are various types of double jaw surgery but the main aim usually involves correcting the bite and improving the appearance of the jaw.
Some individuals may have a protruding lower jaw or an underbite and in my case an asymmetrical jaw. One side of my lower jaw was longer than the other and my top teeth did not align with my cupids bow; so the surgeons decided I would need double jaw surgery to correct my bite.
There are many different reasons a patient might get jaw surgery, sometimes it’s purely for medical reasons. An abnormal bite can affect being able to chew food properly and might cause jaw pain and clicking. In other instances, people may choose to get jaw surgery for cosmetic reasons.
I opted to have jaw surgery from the age of 17 when my orthodontist highlighted to me that my face wasn’t symmetrical and my lower jaw went off to the side by a millimeter. Once they pointed this out to me I began to notice it a lot more in photographs and this affected my confidence.
So, almost 6 years later I found myself in a hospital gown, my face swollen to the size of a watermelon, bruises under my eyes, and eating my food via a syringe.
How I Reduced my Swelling in Less Than 3 Weeks
If you had the pleasure of seeing me straight out of my surgery (very few people did) I was very swollen, my cheeks quadrupled in size and I felt utterly miserable. “What if I stayed like this forever?” was an irrational thought that crossed my mind.
Instead of allowing myself to feel depressed for too long, I decided I would make it my mission to have a record recovery… or at least try. I watched Youtube videos of other successful jaw surgery patients, their tips for getting better, and read loads of blogs of similar procedures. I have linked below a Youtube video that I found particularly useful:
The first day out of surgery I could not open my Jaw more than a 1p coin — laid flat. So, using a straw was not an option for me. I had watched a video of one guy saying he used a syringe to eat all his food and squeezy ketchup bottles, so I went onto Amazon and did a big shop to get all the right things (actually, it was my parents who did this as I was still in hospital). My parents also ordered a wedged pillow which helped me stay upright and I slept face up to avoid putting too much pressure on my jaw.
In order to heal quickly, a nutritional liquid diet was essential. To be honest, I was not a fan of the Ensure drinks the hospital gave out as they made my stomach churn. Instead, I drank loads of fresh smoothies and put in a few spoons of protein powder, spirulina, and CBD oil (weird I know — this was my dad’s doing).
I syringed porridge and Weetabix into my mouth for breakfast, had a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch, and had more soup for dinner. Occasionally, I had a blended lentil curry, and if I was really lucky a blended cake. Yes, you read correctly: a blended cake. No matter how much you miss the taste of normal food, this was not worth it.
My Top 10 Tips For a Speedy Recovery:
- Ensure your liquid diet has all the right nutritional ingredients (see what I did there). Vitamins I tried to include involved: Vitamin C for immune health (the last thing you want is a cold while recovering) & Vitamin D for bone strength.
- Go for regular walks, I was not very confident going out and about straight away but with my lovely boyfriend’s encouragement, I went on my first walk and felt very refreshed.
- Try Arnica to reduce the appearance of bruises and swelling, if you are anything like me and bruised like a peach during surgery, this is a good way of reducing the bruises that make it look like you’ve been in a fistfight.
- Use a baby toothbrush, it is difficult to clean teeth when you can barely open your mouth which is why a baby toothbrush is perfect for at least being able to clean your teeth minimally.
- A wedge pillow helps so much in terms of being able to stay upright and sleep peacefully in the night without hurting your neck.
- Be positive — having a positive mental attitude helps speed up the recovery process as you are more likely to put in the effort to recover faster.
- Have long term and short term goals, this is a great way to stay motivated during this period. I had Harry Potter Cursed Child tickets booked 2 weeks post-surgery to look forward to, even though it was a bit of a push I used this as a way to motivate myself to recover faster. Long-term I had a new job I was due to start in a few months, so this also kept me focused and gave me a reason to put in the effort to recover faster.
- Continuing from my last point, you can also try to make the most of this recovery time. It is probably one of the only times you’ll have weeks on end to not go to work or school. I used this time to try and learn a bit of Spanish in bed using Duolingo on my phone. This kept my brain active during recovery and helped me maintain a PMA. Also, if I was to go to Spain I can now ask for a table for two so there’s that.
- Surround yourself with good friends and family, this really helped me get better as it distracted me from what was going on and I laughed a lot too, even though I could barely open my mouth.
- Make sure to have plenty of rest! This is vital, your jaw heals best when you give your body a break. It is important to be patient during your recovery, as much as you want to bounce back and return to normal again, your body will thank you for it. In the first two weeks, I was mostly in bed watching the tv show Friends from the beginning.
Side-effects & Moving Forward
In a matter of a few weeks, I was out and about like normal seeing friends, going to the theatre, and finally starting work. I stopped caring if I looked swollen and went out anyways. Eventually, the swelling did go down, it took a few months for it to be completely gone.
However, when I saw my surgeon a week after my surgery for a follow-up, he was amazed by how much my swelling had decreased and 2 weeks after that my dentist swore she’d never seen anyone recover so well and so fast.
The only thing I would mention is that 8 months on, I still have a slight tingling sensation in my lower lip and part of my chin is numb. This doesn’t affect my appearance and it’s barely an issue but occasionally can get a bit annoying especially when you don’t realize you’ve got chocolate sauce on your chin or when you accidentally bite the inside of your lip…
Overall, my super speedy recovery was due to a combination of factors: a healthy liquid diet, a positive attitude, and plenty of rest. If you are about to undergo jaw surgery or know someone who is — I wish you the best of luck. It can be challenging, especially when you’re surrounded by family & friends eating your favourite foods while you sip away on your green juice. However, hopefully, these tips will help you get through it a lot faster.
