My OS also said that I could start light exercise after 2 weeks. Did anyone else start exercising sooner or later than this?Thanks heaps
SARPE Surgery
Moderator: bbsadmin
How much weight did everyone lose?
I was just wondering how much weight everyone lost after SARPE surgery? My surgeon told me to expect to lose between 3 and 6kg! I am pretty slim anyway and I exercise 6 days a week so I'm worried that I might look a bit gaunt? And I will miss going to the gym too My OS also said that I could start light exercise after 2 weeks. Did anyone else start exercising sooner or later than this?
Thanks heaps
My OS also said that I could start light exercise after 2 weeks. Did anyone else start exercising sooner or later than this?Thanks heaps
I lost 6 to 8 pounds, but I also had a lower expansion done at the same time as my SARPE so I had both jaws worked on.
There is NO way I would have been ready to start exercising at two weeks. You have to keep in mind your upper jaw is literally left hanging by soft tissue immediately after SARPE. Of course I'm not suggesting it is going to fly off or anything...but you'll notice all sorts of weird feelings until you are done expanding and things start to solidify. That is likely a 4 to 6 week process...
I'm sure everybody is different, but it was a good 6 to 8 weeks before I felt I could do any sort of exercise activity without worrying about it.
There is NO way I would have been ready to start exercising at two weeks. You have to keep in mind your upper jaw is literally left hanging by soft tissue immediately after SARPE. Of course I'm not suggesting it is going to fly off or anything...but you'll notice all sorts of weird feelings until you are done expanding and things start to solidify. That is likely a 4 to 6 week process...
I'm sure everybody is different, but it was a good 6 to 8 weeks before I felt I could do any sort of exercise activity without worrying about it.
@AFLeadDog: Congratulations on getting this far. I think you're going to notice odd sensations for weeks if not months. I am about 4 months post-op, and if I move my upper lips a certain way I still have a very odd feeling like my upper lip is somehow "glued" to my gums. It doesn't hurt and it isn't numb, but it just feels "odd". I surmise it will be that way permanently, but it doesn't bother me and it so far has been worth every odd sensation I've felt.
@esoteric: I know what you mean about thinking bad thoughts...I worked myself into a terrible state before my first surgery, and I hope I don't do it for the second one. The odds of your lips being completely permanently numb are practically non-existent. I share your thought that those of us that have 2 rounds of surgery are at "more risk" of numbness, etc...but I am not sure if it is just our imaginations or if there is some truth to it. That may be an interesting question for the surgeons.
@esoteric: I know what you mean about thinking bad thoughts...I worked myself into a terrible state before my first surgery, and I hope I don't do it for the second one. The odds of your lips being completely permanently numb are practically non-existent. I share your thought that those of us that have 2 rounds of surgery are at "more risk" of numbness, etc...but I am not sure if it is just our imaginations or if there is some truth to it. That may be an interesting question for the surgeons.
Thanks for the reply! Well it’s been what about 5 days since my surgery. I don’t know how to explain this odd sensation except it’s kind of like a spinning top that you try to tip left or right and you can feel the force pushing the other way. (That’s what both jaws feel like when i tip my head in any direction) I bumped mu chin pretty hard today while loading stuff in my car. OMG Ouch!!! I hope i didn’t jar anything that was supposed to be healing. I am still pretty swollen around my chin and lips. Most of the numbness has already dissipated. Oddly my nostrils are very sore and if I put pressure on my cheeks I can feel pressure in my sinuses’. I start turning the expanders’ tomorrow morning. I am kind of nervous about how it’s going to feel. I have a follow up with the OS on Thursday to see how the healing and expanding is going! Thank god for my wife she is so caring and thoughtful, I think she feels the pain more than I do.
I do not regret anything so far, I don’t even complain about the pain (what little there is now) because I chose to have this done so I feel I have no right to complain about something I knew I was getting into.
I can drink out of cups now. I even braved some blended KFC chicken and mashed potatoes w/ gravy last night. What a chore it is to eat even without chewing LOL but it tasted so good
I can’t wait till the swelling goes down and i finish expanding so i can have an idea of how my profile will change!.
I will post again soon. GL to all that are recovering or about to have surgery!!!
I do not regret anything so far, I don’t even complain about the pain (what little there is now) because I chose to have this done so I feel I have no right to complain about something I knew I was getting into.
I can drink out of cups now. I even braved some blended KFC chicken and mashed potatoes w/ gravy last night. What a chore it is to eat even without chewing LOL but it tasted so good
I can’t wait till the swelling goes down and i finish expanding so i can have an idea of how my profile will change!.
I will post again soon. GL to all that are recovering or about to have surgery!!!
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happy teeth
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:45 pm
SARPE and Wisdom teeth
Hey yall,
I'm 20 and I undergoing surgery next Thurs (6/11). I was wondering if anyone could compare the pain & swelling of their SARPE surgery to that of wisdom teeth removal.
I'm 20 and I undergoing surgery next Thurs (6/11). I was wondering if anyone could compare the pain & swelling of their SARPE surgery to that of wisdom teeth removal.
Hi Happy Teeth,
I just had my procedures done last week I had SARPE and MSDO (same as SARPE but on bottom) My OS said bruising would be comparable to wisdom teeth removal.
For me it was an accurate statement. I had more swelling, but this surgery is a bit more invasive. I really didn’t have any bruising per say, but I didn't when I had my wisdoms out.
I think pain tolerance is different for each person. Mine didn’t seem that bad. I think it was more uncomfortable than painful to be honest. Then again I was on some good pain meds
.
I hope that helps you out some!!
Good Luck!!
I just had my procedures done last week I had SARPE and MSDO (same as SARPE but on bottom) My OS said bruising would be comparable to wisdom teeth removal.
For me it was an accurate statement. I had more swelling, but this surgery is a bit more invasive. I really didn’t have any bruising per say, but I didn't when I had my wisdoms out.
I think pain tolerance is different for each person. Mine didn’t seem that bad. I think it was more uncomfortable than painful to be honest. Then again I was on some good pain meds
.I hope that helps you out some!!
Good Luck!!
Respectfully,
AFLeadDog
AFLeadDog
-
happy teeth
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:45 pm
my story
I just joined the site and figured I'd tell everyone what happened to me then ask my questions.
Was 24 at the time of surgery, male, had stage 3 crowding and an underbite and cross bite. Suggested work to be done was sarpe for the upper jaw, turn key for 10mm, let heal for about 6 months after turning, then braces for 6 months to a year probably, possible 2 extractions from top(but surgeon thinks this is most likely not to happen), and a decent chance of 2 extractions from the bottom jaw.
Got spacers which actually hurt quite a bit, especially with my severe crowding. Had eight spacers in total put in. Stayed in for a couple weeks, then got fitted for the sarpe, and then the spacers went back in. Stayed in until I got the sarpe permanently, but by then the pain was gone from the spacers, only slight discomfort and only some of the time.
Got surgery on January 8th. Had to have a presurgical discussion at the hospital a couple weeks before as well as a physical from my primary care physician(regular doctor) to make sure that I was fine for surgery, I clearly was it is just a formality to protect themselves legally.
Got to hospital a couple hours before surgery, surgery ended up starting late. You get your vitals taken and then an IV and you sit in the bed with a couple family members around(I brought my uncle and my cousin) and just chill and BS for a while. Surgeon will come over, make sure you're feeeling alright, and then you go into the OR, and within a couple minutes you are totally out. You wake up in recovery and are quite groggy but don't really feel any pain at all because they give you perk through your IV when the surgery is over.
Normally time in the recovery room is 2 hours but since I have sleep apnea they wanted to make it 4. Was quite boring and they make you drink some apple juice and set you up with ice packs. Now the ice packs are really uncomfortable but they will help you immensely. USE THEM, I DID AND I HAVE VIRTUALLY NO PAIN OR DISCOMFORT!!!!
They will give you vicodin if you want on the way out but I said no because the perk made me feel really out of it and that's not my style.
When I got home I decided to take the pain medication for a couple days because I'd probably just be chilling in the house anyway. I took vicodin, a nasal spray, dimetapp, and a couple antibiotics for the two days after surgery. I then stopped with everything but the antibiotic and the nose spray, which I actually have taken before because of sinuses(flonase).
I had a VERY difficult time urinating after a day and a half and called my regular doctor. He told me to stop taking the dimmetapp and within a couple hours I was back to urinating like regular, so like every hour or so haha.
Slept prooped up with a few pillows for a few nights but the sleeping was quite difficult. My back hurt ALOT, sleeping in a recliner helps, I would recommend you do that instead of sleeeping in a bed for the first couple days, sleeping propped up by pillows is not a good idea, I learned the hard way, don't repeat my mistake.
I ate yogurt right when I got home from the surgery and then basically ate soup, yogurt, protein shakes(myoplex light, tastes pretty good), apple sauce, and mashed potatoes.
Throat was sensitive to heat so the mashed potatoes probably isn't a good idea, yogurt, protein shakes, and apple sauce should suffice, but you will obviously be very hungry so I recommend eating every 2-3 hours, it will also give you energy.
After two days or so I went outside and ran some errands with my grandfather but didn't go out on my own for about a week, although I probably could have. After a week I was driving and doing everything I normally do other than eating foods that require extensive use of the teeth.
You will probably lose some weight, maybe 5-10 pounds, in that first week or two just because of the eating habits you have, but you should still try to get the proper food into your body, don't just eat ice cream all day.
I started turning the key the morning after the surgery. My uncle wasn't very good at it so I had to go to the ortho alot for him to turn it, and since I didn't want to go every day, alot of the times he would turn it 5-6 times to make up for the days I didn't turn it. I just took an ibuprofen thirty minutes before. It will feel tight and hurt a tad, but don't be a baby, fight through it. It took about three weeks for all the turning to be done and then the ortho glues the sarpe set so that you don't accidentally turn it or anything.
It has been five months since I had surgery, a little over four since the turning was completed. I am going to get my braces put on in about two weeks. The gap has closed quite a bit but is still noticable. Alto of people would ask me what happend or if I lost a tooth. I would tell them I had oral surgery to expand my upper jaw. They would ask why I need to expand my upper jaw, I would say well obviously it was too narrow Einstein, why else would I have it expanded. Then I would explain to them briefly what happened if they were interested.
I was, and still am, pretty self aware of it, but there is really no way around it other than to try to hide it with your lips and not to open your mouth. As a 25 year old single guy, my birthday was a week after my sugery, who dates alot I am pretty sure that some girls have definitely been put off by it, but then again those are probably not the girls you want to go out with anyway. I have had a relationship and been with several girls since so don't get too held up on it.
For women though I would have to think this is a much bigger issue, but if you had to get this surgery done your teeth were probably way messed up beforehand so I am sure you have had to deal with bad teeth most of your life. I have big lips so I was able to cover my teeth alot when speaking and people would only notice how bad my teeth truly were when I smiled or laughed with my mouth completely open. The gap though, since it is in the front, is alot more noticable.
My advice, get a gf or a bf that is cool with your surgery beforehand and then you won't care what you look like. I am a big burly guy so looking somewhat monsterous is not nearly as a big a deal for me as it is for probably everyone else. Some friends joked that I should not date at all until it is fixed but they were probably just messing with me. At least you have a good story for when people ask, and if you are a guy you can say how bad it hurt and get some florence nightingale syndrome.
Anyway my main question is how long, once I get braces, until the gap closes completely, or at least to the point where it is unnoticable that something is wrong with the front of my mouth? Also how long until the sarpe comes out, I am getting pretty tired of getting food stuck in it, but you get used to it after a few weeks and will recognize the two spots or so that get food stuck in them still.
Was 24 at the time of surgery, male, had stage 3 crowding and an underbite and cross bite. Suggested work to be done was sarpe for the upper jaw, turn key for 10mm, let heal for about 6 months after turning, then braces for 6 months to a year probably, possible 2 extractions from top(but surgeon thinks this is most likely not to happen), and a decent chance of 2 extractions from the bottom jaw.
Got spacers which actually hurt quite a bit, especially with my severe crowding. Had eight spacers in total put in. Stayed in for a couple weeks, then got fitted for the sarpe, and then the spacers went back in. Stayed in until I got the sarpe permanently, but by then the pain was gone from the spacers, only slight discomfort and only some of the time.
Got surgery on January 8th. Had to have a presurgical discussion at the hospital a couple weeks before as well as a physical from my primary care physician(regular doctor) to make sure that I was fine for surgery, I clearly was it is just a formality to protect themselves legally.
Got to hospital a couple hours before surgery, surgery ended up starting late. You get your vitals taken and then an IV and you sit in the bed with a couple family members around(I brought my uncle and my cousin) and just chill and BS for a while. Surgeon will come over, make sure you're feeeling alright, and then you go into the OR, and within a couple minutes you are totally out. You wake up in recovery and are quite groggy but don't really feel any pain at all because they give you perk through your IV when the surgery is over.
Normally time in the recovery room is 2 hours but since I have sleep apnea they wanted to make it 4. Was quite boring and they make you drink some apple juice and set you up with ice packs. Now the ice packs are really uncomfortable but they will help you immensely. USE THEM, I DID AND I HAVE VIRTUALLY NO PAIN OR DISCOMFORT!!!!
They will give you vicodin if you want on the way out but I said no because the perk made me feel really out of it and that's not my style.
When I got home I decided to take the pain medication for a couple days because I'd probably just be chilling in the house anyway. I took vicodin, a nasal spray, dimetapp, and a couple antibiotics for the two days after surgery. I then stopped with everything but the antibiotic and the nose spray, which I actually have taken before because of sinuses(flonase).
I had a VERY difficult time urinating after a day and a half and called my regular doctor. He told me to stop taking the dimmetapp and within a couple hours I was back to urinating like regular, so like every hour or so haha.
Slept prooped up with a few pillows for a few nights but the sleeping was quite difficult. My back hurt ALOT, sleeping in a recliner helps, I would recommend you do that instead of sleeeping in a bed for the first couple days, sleeping propped up by pillows is not a good idea, I learned the hard way, don't repeat my mistake.
I ate yogurt right when I got home from the surgery and then basically ate soup, yogurt, protein shakes(myoplex light, tastes pretty good), apple sauce, and mashed potatoes.
Throat was sensitive to heat so the mashed potatoes probably isn't a good idea, yogurt, protein shakes, and apple sauce should suffice, but you will obviously be very hungry so I recommend eating every 2-3 hours, it will also give you energy.
After two days or so I went outside and ran some errands with my grandfather but didn't go out on my own for about a week, although I probably could have. After a week I was driving and doing everything I normally do other than eating foods that require extensive use of the teeth.
You will probably lose some weight, maybe 5-10 pounds, in that first week or two just because of the eating habits you have, but you should still try to get the proper food into your body, don't just eat ice cream all day.
I started turning the key the morning after the surgery. My uncle wasn't very good at it so I had to go to the ortho alot for him to turn it, and since I didn't want to go every day, alot of the times he would turn it 5-6 times to make up for the days I didn't turn it. I just took an ibuprofen thirty minutes before. It will feel tight and hurt a tad, but don't be a baby, fight through it. It took about three weeks for all the turning to be done and then the ortho glues the sarpe set so that you don't accidentally turn it or anything.
It has been five months since I had surgery, a little over four since the turning was completed. I am going to get my braces put on in about two weeks. The gap has closed quite a bit but is still noticable. Alto of people would ask me what happend or if I lost a tooth. I would tell them I had oral surgery to expand my upper jaw. They would ask why I need to expand my upper jaw, I would say well obviously it was too narrow Einstein, why else would I have it expanded. Then I would explain to them briefly what happened if they were interested.
I was, and still am, pretty self aware of it, but there is really no way around it other than to try to hide it with your lips and not to open your mouth. As a 25 year old single guy, my birthday was a week after my sugery, who dates alot I am pretty sure that some girls have definitely been put off by it, but then again those are probably not the girls you want to go out with anyway. I have had a relationship and been with several girls since so don't get too held up on it.
For women though I would have to think this is a much bigger issue, but if you had to get this surgery done your teeth were probably way messed up beforehand so I am sure you have had to deal with bad teeth most of your life. I have big lips so I was able to cover my teeth alot when speaking and people would only notice how bad my teeth truly were when I smiled or laughed with my mouth completely open. The gap though, since it is in the front, is alot more noticable.
My advice, get a gf or a bf that is cool with your surgery beforehand and then you won't care what you look like. I am a big burly guy so looking somewhat monsterous is not nearly as a big a deal for me as it is for probably everyone else. Some friends joked that I should not date at all until it is fixed but they were probably just messing with me. At least you have a good story for when people ask, and if you are a guy you can say how bad it hurt and get some florence nightingale syndrome.
Anyway my main question is how long, once I get braces, until the gap closes completely, or at least to the point where it is unnoticable that something is wrong with the front of my mouth? Also how long until the sarpe comes out, I am getting pretty tired of getting food stuck in it, but you get used to it after a few weeks and will recognize the two spots or so that get food stuck in them still.
@Happy Teeth: I think bruising and swelling varies by person. If I recall, I had little swelling and no bruising getting teeth pulled. With SARPE and an MSDO, I swelled up like the normal bi-max surgery patient, and my bruising was ridiculous. It just depends on how your body is. If you are somebody that bruises easily, I can almost guarantee you will bruise a lot after surgery. If you are lucky and don't bruise easily, then after a week or so nobody will likely be able to tell you even had surgery.
@KeithF40: It sounds like you have a pretty conservative orthodontist if you are 5+ months post-op and are still not braced. Having a conservative orthodontist is a good thing!!! I was braced at 3 months, which seems about the "norm" on this message board for patients that undergo SARPE. As for the expander, most Orthos keep them in 6 months. So, hopefully you will be getting yours out soon. I currently have an upper and lower expander in and my surgery was Feb 4. I am hoping to have mine taken out in late July. I cannot WAIT for this to happen!!!!
@KeithF40: It sounds like you have a pretty conservative orthodontist if you are 5+ months post-op and are still not braced. Having a conservative orthodontist is a good thing!!! I was braced at 3 months, which seems about the "norm" on this message board for patients that undergo SARPE. As for the expander, most Orthos keep them in 6 months. So, hopefully you will be getting yours out soon. I currently have an upper and lower expander in and my surgery was Feb 4. I am hoping to have mine taken out in late July. I cannot WAIT for this to happen!!!!
more concerned with the gap closing rather than the sarpe being removed, im very used to it at this point.
the second surgery is the big one, one of the leforts, basically having to push the lower jaw back slightly and move the upper jaw out quite a bit.
not completely sure whether i am going to get it done as it is much more complex than the sarpe and also the cost, don't really know where that is going to lie.
any advice on the second surgery would be greatly appreciated.
the second surgery is the big one, one of the leforts, basically having to push the lower jaw back slightly and move the upper jaw out quite a bit.
not completely sure whether i am going to get it done as it is much more complex than the sarpe and also the cost, don't really know where that is going to lie.
any advice on the second surgery would be greatly appreciated.
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sarpevictim
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:50 am
Hi everyone! I'm new around here but I'm happy I found this thread, because it's really helped me figure out what's been going on with me for the past few days. I thought this surgery wasn't common because there's nothing on it but it seems like a lot of people do get it.
Here's my story:
I have a severe overbite and severe narrow palate, with a mild cross bite on the top. My orthodontist wants me to do 10-12 mm of expansion (they actually want to take out this expander and put another one in to continue expanding
), followed by 10 months of braces and then a BSSO.
I had my SARPE surgery 5 days ago, without the Le Fort thing. The surgery was outpatient, lasted about 45 minutes, and I was put under general anesthetic.
I wasn't in any pain for the first 2 days and already had a gap. I wasn't bruised either but was very swollen. The pain kicked in on the 3rd day but it wasn't bad, I would say 4/10 without painkillers which I didn't want to make since they made me talk in my sleep.
Now the swelling has gone down but there is still some. I still feel a little sore though. I can brush my teeth, use mouthwash, and can chew although it feels weird so I stick to softer foods. I did lose weight which sucks because I'm trying to gain weight.
I went to the orthodontist yesterday and he turned the appliance 4 times (he really likes turning it, he just kept saying, "Eh let's do another one!"), and I'm going to be doing 2 turns per day. Then I'm going to let the bones rest for about 6 weeks and get braced.
I've never had wisdom teeth removed so I can't say whether it's easier or not but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm having a very speedy recovery, and I can already see results only after 5 days and I like them. I hope that everything continues going well and I can get this thing out and the gap fixed before I start my fall semester at college. Wish me luck!
I look forward to reading about everyone else's experiences with this surgery and orthodontics.
Here's my story:
I have a severe overbite and severe narrow palate, with a mild cross bite on the top. My orthodontist wants me to do 10-12 mm of expansion (they actually want to take out this expander and put another one in to continue expanding
), followed by 10 months of braces and then a BSSO. I had my SARPE surgery 5 days ago, without the Le Fort thing. The surgery was outpatient, lasted about 45 minutes, and I was put under general anesthetic.
I wasn't in any pain for the first 2 days and already had a gap. I wasn't bruised either but was very swollen. The pain kicked in on the 3rd day but it wasn't bad, I would say 4/10 without painkillers which I didn't want to make since they made me talk in my sleep.
Now the swelling has gone down but there is still some. I still feel a little sore though. I can brush my teeth, use mouthwash, and can chew although it feels weird so I stick to softer foods. I did lose weight which sucks because I'm trying to gain weight. I went to the orthodontist yesterday and he turned the appliance 4 times (he really likes turning it, he just kept saying, "Eh let's do another one!"
), and I'm going to be doing 2 turns per day. Then I'm going to let the bones rest for about 6 weeks and get braced.I've never had wisdom teeth removed so I can't say whether it's easier or not but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm having a very speedy recovery, and I can already see results only after 5 days and I like them. I hope that everything continues going well and I can get this thing out and the gap fixed before I start my fall semester at college. Wish me luck!
I look forward to reading about everyone else's experiences with this surgery and orthodontics.
Hey everyone!
I haven't been on in a while, and it looks like I have a lot to read! Before I do though I just want to happily announce I had my expander removed last week! It was an amazing feeling, today I got my retainer and spacers on my bottom teeth to prepare for my braces next Tuesday. I'm super excited. My gap is almost all the way closed, which of course makes me beyond happy. I've included pictures of my gap at its biggest and how it is now. :] Excuse the no makeup part of the current picture, its late at night and sorry for the bad qualty. My webcam could use an update.
I haven't been on in a while, and it looks like I have a lot to read! Before I do though I just want to happily announce I had my expander removed last week! It was an amazing feeling, today I got my retainer and spacers on my bottom teeth to prepare for my braces next Tuesday. I'm super excited. My gap is almost all the way closed, which of course makes me beyond happy. I've included pictures of my gap at its biggest and how it is now. :] Excuse the no makeup part of the current picture, its late at night and sorry for the bad qualty. My webcam could use an update.
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Keith: I'm really surprised your gap hasn't really began to close, because if you look at my pictures mine has closed a drastic amount within the last month or so. Instead of keeping my expander in for 6 months which I guess a lot of orthodontist do, my otho gave me a retainer which I have to wear 24/7 for an additional 6 months. I just got the retainer today, but I already like it way better than the expander.
From reading everything in general I've learned all orthodontist and oral surgeons do things differently, but in the end a good result is all that matters right? :]
From reading everything in general I've learned all orthodontist and oral surgeons do things differently, but in the end a good result is all that matters right? :]
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I just got my RPE put in (like an hour ago). The first thing I noticed is that I cant swallow very easily. Speech is ok but there are a few words and letters that sound weird - like T, G, E - anything with an eee sound make me sound kinde like a chipmunk! My teeth are a bit sore already but I guess I expected that. Will attempt chicken soup soon and hopefully I dont drool too much 
SARME on Friday too!
SARME on Friday too!-
crazybeautiful
- Posts: 745
- Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 2:20 am
- Location: Yorkshire, England
