I hear you on the congestion. I just got off the afrin two days ago (17 days post op). My right nostril kept closing up every time I would lay down. Having the splint out definitely helped me ween myself off the nose spray though. It was too hard to breath through my mouth with it in.
I slept on the couch using a foam wedge pillow with a bunch of other pillows on top of it to prop me almost upright. Did that for almost a week and a half, then moved up to the bed with two thick pillows. Finally side sleeping again with just one. It's a fun process isn't it?
I had BSSO and Rhinoplasty on April 17th. The breathing while the nose splints were in was awful. Right after they were removed the breathing was so much better but the drainage was still a problem. I slept basically sitting up for two weeks. I just started sleeping normally a couple days ago.
My healing has been fairly easy all around and now if it's not someone who knows my face super well they wouldn't be able to tell I'm still puffy. And I also think that some of my perceptions of being puffy is just having to get used to my new face shape. Has anyone else struggled with your new bite feeling like you constantly are accidentally chewing on the inside of your cheeks?
Lucky you, surgery of the lower jaw is much easier in terms of congestion/swelling than the upper. Why did you need oral surgery?
You should talk to your doctor about the fact that you're occasionally biting your cheeks when you chew, through it's probably because they're still swollen and getting in the way as you adjust to your new bite.
PierreDeFermat wrote: ↑Sun May 06, 2018 9:48 pm
Lucky you, surgery of the lower jaw is much easier in terms of congestion/swelling than the upper.
If you haven't already, get yourself a humidifier ASAP. I don't know how I didn't have one before now, and I think it'll make a world of difference post-surgery. I forgot to turn it on last night and woke up this morning with a bone-dry throat, stuffed up and bloody nose, and eyes that were dry AF. Crazy how much of a difference it makes for congestion.
Yes I actually picked up $15 warm air humidifier at Wal-Mart and it's been really helpful.
Oddly enough, at exactly the 7 day post-op mark my congestion subsided also completely and I no longer had nosebleeds, drool, etc.
I think the consistent icing and steroids did a lot of helping bring down the swelling/congestion at a accelerated pace so make sure you ice as much as possible the first 48 hours.
Also stock up on paper towels, q-tips, vasoline, wet wipes (neutral), etc. to prepare for all the crap leaving your body lol.
[quote=PierreDeFermat post_id=501957 time=1525668502 user_id=31191]
Lucky you, surgery of the lower jaw is much easier in terms of congestion/swelling than the upper. Why did you need oral surgery?
You should talk to your doctor about the fact that you're occasionally biting your cheeks when you chew, through it's probably because they're still swollen and getting in the way as you adjust to your new bite.
[/quote]
I had an overbite/slight cross bite. And since breathing was a problem and I had a history of snoring they threw in the rhinoplasty to solve all the problems at once. I have my 3 week appointment tomorrow so I will for sure mention the biting my cheeks. I have noticed it's much more on the right side which is the side that there is slightly more swelling.
My upper jaw swelling (at least the sensation of it) seems to be fluctuating from day to day currently. I feel like everything is getting tighter and more swollen again, but it doesn't necessarily look that way. I don't think it's an infection because I feel fine, but who knows.
My palate has also devolved a clicking sound where it was split whenever I swallow. Hopefully that just means the bone is growing close enough together now that the sides are rubbing against each other. Anyone else have that experience?
When I went for my 3 week checkup with my surgeon today we were talking about how the swelling/ puffiness will kind of shift day to day. I have noticed that a lot. Some days my right side will be bad, others my left. But it's all normal I guess.
The clicking though I haven't experienced at all though.
Yeah I can't tell if it's just my sinuses (I also had a septoplasty) or something deeper. It definitely feels like it's coming from the right side either in or under my sinus area.
Hopefully it's NOT one of the plates coming loose. I'm pretty happy with my swelling and aesthetic results at this point and would hate to put all that in jeopardy going back under the knife. I see him again tomorrow so I'll try to post an update then.
Another interesting bit of info for you: I had a 2-piece lefort, but my surgeon split my palate on the right side (not down the center like you see in all of the illustrations), in between my right canine and lateral incisor. Ever heard of that?
So for the educational portion of this post: The technical term for an off center split is called an "interdental osteotomy". He said there is much less chance of blood flow loss and tissue death than with a traditional split down the center. And less bone to cut through.
As for the popping sound I'm hearing, he asked me if I was biting down on my teeth and I realized That I'm subconsciously clenching my teeth periodically throughout the day and it's slowing the healing process between the two pieces. So I'm trying to be more conscious of relaxing my jaw. I've already noticed a decrease in the sound just from being extra cautious about it for one day. I just needed a little push to be more careful I guess. This process definitely tests your patience!
Hopefully it will begin to close up in the next two weeks because I start back with the ortho on the 22nd
Oh wow. Yeah the biting will get you every time. Being as this is my second surgery, (I had SARPE to fix my upper palette in 2016) I feel like I'm stretching the definition of soft foods a lot more than I did last time. And my surgeon was okay with it as long as I confirm that I am not biting at all.
I just had the most ridiculous wow I'm not that smart moment. I was reading through another thread on here and someone mentioned how they had throat bruising from their breathing tube. For almost two weeks post surgery I was afraid I was getting sick because my throat was killing me. I had two separate breathing tubes because I had jaw and nose surgery at the same time. There was visible bruising on my neck. I feel so dumb.
The visible bruising on the neck (and down to the chest sometimes) can also be from the swelling of the lower jaw. I had bruising that eventually migrated past my sternum before it dissipated. Nothing to worry about though. It's really just gravity doing its thing.
However, my throat was slightly sore to the touch around the lymph nodes under the tongue, and even still is more than 3 weeks later. I think it's a combination of the body increasing its immune response and the swelling from the surgery.
The pain is gone now. It was just the first two weeks. My biggest struggle now is realizing I go back to work on Wed. and I won't be able to sleep until 830 every morning. 5 am is going to be rough.
5 am is going to be rough.