anyone have muscle tightness on one side of the face?

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#1 Post by **New Yorker** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:20 pm

Hi. I had surgery many years ago (upper and lower jaw) with cheek implants for cosmetic 'balancing'. I am very happy with my physical appearance, but I am wondering if anyone has had this happen:

1) after the surgery, the facial muscles on the right side of my face were tighter than the left side. My surgeon seemed genuinely puzzled by this and didn't know why. They still are tighter. Most of the times I am oblivious to it, but in times of stress (like now), I am very conscious of it and sometimes I have muscle spasms. Sleeping with a splint seems to help (and sometimes I wear the splint during the day if the stress makes me clench my jaw). I'm wondering if this tightness has something to do with the cheek implants.

2) My gums are sometimes hyper-sensitive to post-nasal drip/sinus pressure and get real itchy and painful.

3) in general, the sections of my jaw that were cut feel more achy in cold, wet weather.

Any advice welcome!

I don't want to scare anyone, really! I am still glad I had the surgery! I'm just wondering if I could be doing something different now.

#2 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:44 pm

Hmmm... I haven't had any of those things happen, but I do have other strange sensations. I had surgery almost two years ago, and things don't feel exactly the same as before. I suspect they never will. I don't get achy in cold weather, but boy am I sensitive to cold foods/drinks. Some of this is root sensitivity, but some of it is a deeper ache, and I think it's related to the surgery. Also, my gums are sensitive to flossing.

Would a muscle relaxant help with the spasms, perhaps?

#3 Post by **New Yorker** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:13 pm

Thanks for responding. When I see my "before and after" pictures, I am amazed at the work my OS did. Nine hours of surgery! Many things could have gone wrong and didn't, so I'm grateful.

Still...I wish the right side of my face felt as perfect as my left.....sigh.

#4 Post by **FuzzyPants** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:36 am

Hi New Yorker!

Phil was just asking about sensitivity to cold. Unfortunately, I don't think we found a definite explanation for it.

I am experience tightness on my left side, and the occasional ache. I'm surprised that it has lasted for so many years for you. I hope you can find relief from it soon.

#5 Post by **Mikatgeo** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:56 am

Hi

I had upper expansion and lower contraction for an underbite over a year ago and I have a similar situation with tightness on just one side of my face. I revisited by surgeon recently and he also didn't have a cut and dry explanation but offered some ideas.

I have some scar tissue inside the cheek that I bite down on when I chew (ouch) that we're going to remove.

He guessed that I was a night clencher. I'm not aware that I am but it's possible. He had me feel inside my cheek where I feel the tightness and then clench down and I could feel the muscle contract. The theory is that constant clenching hardens that muscle. He suggested a night guard and a series of seroid injections in the muscle to soften it.

If you're getting some relief with a splint it's possible you have the same situation. I feel for you - it's incredible annoying.

#6 Post by **Mikatgeo** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:58 am

Note: That was STEROID injections.

sorry

#7 Post by **New Yorker** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:27 pm

Thanks for responding to my post. You're right that the orthodic helps. The muscle tightness doesn't completely disappear, but I can go weeks or even months without noticing it.

This is my theory (bear with me): when my jaw bones were cut and rearranged, the extra facial tissue/muscles had a hard time figuring out where to go (?) It's strange what one thinks of lying awake at night

#8 Post by **kaycee** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:31 pm

Hi New Yorker,

I had surgery twice, July 2nd and November 12th, 2008. I had limited ROM after the first surgery that only became worse after the second surgery. I have been in physical therapy since early December. Anyway, I have muscle tightness on one side more than the other and it seems to vary. At first it was the right side and then after I could open a bit more, I was tight on the left. Right now, the tightness pulls my jaw noticeably to the left. I also am wearing rubberbands in a tight box formation that counteract any attempts to open wide and stretch my jaw muscles except at meal time.

My PT taught me how to massage the jaw muscles both inside my mouth and externally on my face. I also have daily jaw exercises to do and I use a heated rice sock to relax the muscles.

I will get my braces off once I can open wide (at 40mm) and the orthodontist is sure that the muscles are even on both sides so my bite won't be pulled to one side or the other.

I also have constant post-nasal drip that I keep forgetting to ask about.

I hope this helps.

kaycee