Jaw joint pain post op 2.5 months

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#1 Post by **boomandvibe** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 12:40 am

Hello. I'm new to this forum and I joined to ask for opinions on my jaw joint pain.

I'm a 22 year old male who recently had orthognastic surgery about 2 months ago. I've had the case of severe overbite with receding chin. I've had a surgery done to move my jaw forward and genioplasty for the cosmetic side.

My profile looks great after the surgery but I've had pain in my jaw joint on my left since 1 month after the surgery. When I first felt the pain, I was sleeping and I woke up in the middle of the night with tears rolling down my cheek because of the pain. I've contacted my surgeon multiple times and he assured me that it will get better and advised me to massage the area with hot towel and take advils. I've been following his instructions for a month now but the pain doesn't seem to lessen at all.

I only feel the pain when I open and close my mouth and when I move my jaw slightly side to side, I hear much of grinding noises which bother me often. I feel less pain if I chew on something.

I'm worried that if the surgery was unsuccessful or not as successful as it could've been. Is it possible that the surgeon could have screwed the plates in wrong, making my jaw joint unnatural in movement? Or am I just being paranoid and do I need to be patient and wait a little longer? How longer if that's the case?

#2 Post by **ColoradoGirl** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:12 am

Sometimes a surgery can make the jaw joints grumpy. My surgeon has me on an antibiotic that does...something good for joints, I don't remember what, plus a multivitamin plus flaxseed oil (fish oil is even better, apparently, but I'm a vegetarian) plus calcium plus vitamin D. Of course, you should talk to your surgeon before taking anything, but I feel right now that my joints are no worse than before surgery (they were pretty gnarly), and I think it's the vitamins and such that've helped.

#3 Post by **indecisive1** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:25 am

At two months post op I had jaw joint pain as well. I too had upper and lower jaw surgery to correct an open bite, plus genioplasty to correct a retrognathic jaw. I am now 5 months post op and have no jaw joint pain at all. I think from memory the pain started to disappear at around 4 months. I know its probably different for everyone. I think at 2 months your muscles are still trying to adjust to their new position. Hang in there it does get better and before you know it you'll be back to feeling 100%.

#4 Post by **chicago29** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 7:08 am

I think you need to return to your surgeon ASAP and demand that he at least x-ray the TMJ and see if he can see anything. With being as far out from surgery as you are, the "Oh, take 2 of these and call me in the morning" argument goes out the window...

If things look structurally sound, I would venture to guess it is muscular/soft tissue pain that is likely to go away in due time. What worries me here is that it is a structural issue, and in these situations it is clearly best if you get it diagnosed as soon as you can.

Best of luck and let us know how things turn out.

Regards
Chicago29

#5 Post by **boomandvibe** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:32 pm

chicago29 wrote:I think you need to return to your surgeon ASAP and demand that he at least x-ray the TMJ and see if he can see anything. With being as far out from surgery as you are, the "Oh, take 2 of these and call me in the morning" argument goes out the window...

If things look structurally sound, I would venture to guess it is muscular/soft tissue pain that is likely to go away in due time. What worries me here is that it is a structural issue, and in these situations it is clearly best if you get it diagnosed as soon as you can.

Best of luck and let us know how things turn out.

Regards
Chicago29

Yea he has taken the X-ray and looked carefully for a long time and told me everything is really great.

One weird thing though is that during the multiple post-op follow-ups, he asked me several times if I feel numb around my lower lip. I've never had numb feeling anywhere and when I told him, he replied 'Maybe you got lucky' in a tone that he doesn't believe what I was telling him. Is not feeling numbness after the surgery normal?

#6 Post by **chicago29** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:42 pm

That's great news on the X-Ray. The fact is the TMJ is one of those areas that has a mind of its own. There are a lot of people on here that have registered similar complaints post-op, and I believe for almost all of them things settled down in due time. I know the "be patient" statement sucks (I'm 7 weeks post-op myself), but it does ring true for a vast majority of issues.

As for the numbness, I had a similar experience. I think my surgeon believes me when I say stuff, but when I told him I had no lower lip or chin numbness his words were "Wow, good for you".

I rebutted by saying my upper palate is totally numb (and still is for the most part), so I didn't get out of this completely free of side effects.

Best of luck and I hope your TMJ settles down...

-Chicago29

#7 Post by bb » Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:01 pm

I had excruciating jaw joint pain for about 4 months. It would wake me from sleep too.
I'm 9 months post op and now only get it if I yawn really wide.
So it does get better but it takes time.

#8 Post by **boomandvibe** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:57 pm

Thank you guys for reassuring me. I will wait and see how it goes. Thank you again!

#9 Post by **mountaingirl** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:52 am

I've had TMJ issues on my right side after surgery and it got really bad when I was wearing elastics. After taking the elastics out by recommendation of the surgeon, the pain is gone but the clicking and grinding is still there. I think things are slowly getting better. Also, I have been for TMJ physio which helped and am supposed to be going for massage of that area. Surgeons says everything is still tight and needs to be loosened up. Hope that helps!

#10 Post by **boomandvibe** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:24 pm

mountaingirl wrote:I've had TMJ issues on my right side after surgery and it got really bad when I was wearing elastics. After taking the elastics out by recommendation of the surgeon, the pain is gone but the clicking and grinding is still there. I think things are slowly getting better. Also, I have been for TMJ physio which helped and am supposed to be going for massage of that area. Surgeons says everything is still tight and needs to be loosened up. Hope that helps!

YES! ME TOO! My jaw hurt when I was wearing elastics. The surgeon and orthodontist recommended to take them off if my jaw hurt. I haven't been wearing the elastics for 1.5 weeks now and I actually just started to feel better today! I haven't felt anything today! Grinding is still there though.

#11 Post by **unguardiant** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:38 pm

Hey - how did this turn out for you? I am 22 and am 7 weeks post op, had the same procedures done. TMJ pain has started to really bother me in the last few days, and like you, I am worried that things didn't heal as they should have. Any thoughts? Thanks!

#12 Post by **dannym 1980** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:55 am

hi this might be worth a try,alot of you might think im bonkers,but youv got nothing to loose,im in to body building and take creatine,iv found its very good at lubeing the joints of the body due to its cellular water retention ,it also makes your muscles more elastic,its a long shot but its got too be worth a try as you jaw muscles and joints are going through change it might help,it deffo works on my shoulders and elbows when training,good look,ill sertenley bee trying it when i have my openbite coreccted,

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Jaw joint pain post op 2.5 months

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