How long does soft tissue take to settle?

[theganglyguy]

Hi, it's been a little over 5 weeks since I had upper jaw surgery to correct my underbite & crossbite.  There was a slight rotation (left side of maxilla was shifted forwards 5mm, right side about 7mm) in order to account for the crossbite.  Swelling is mostly down at this point, though there is still a bit visible. 

I can't help but notice that there are some discrepancies between the soft tissue on either side of my face.  On the left side, it feels more fleshy and spread out.  On the right, it feels tighter and stretched.  This makes sense give the greater advancement of the right side (the bone moved forward more, and pushed more flesh out with it).  However, this has caused a slight difference in appearance of either side of my face, and it's irritating me to no end.  I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this before?  I'm predicting that with time, the soft tissue will form-fit around the new bone structure and become more symmetrical.  However, I don't even know if this will happen, and I have no idea of any potential timeframe.

[Tiny]

I would give it 6 months.  The right side also might be swollen more, contributing to the physical tissue difference

It might never be totally symmetric, in which case you'd be looking at fillers like radiesse or scultpra.  I have asymmetry in my chin which bugs me so I know how annoying it is.

[CK]

I'm predicting that with time, the soft tissue will form-fit around the new bone structure and become more symmetrical.  However, I don't even know if this will happen, and I have no idea of any potential timeframe.

did you have the disparity before surgery? im sure it is well within normal limits virtually no one has 100% left/right symmetry. 6 months is about right but i was told soft tissue can takes years to settle.

[theganglyguy]

I honestly can't really remember if I had the discrepancy before surgery.  I think it may have been there before, but it definitely seems exaggerated now.  It's frustrating, but I know I need to wait a couple months until I can fully judge the results.

Recovery has gone very well, first week was pretty bad but other than that I've been fine.  I start school in a couple weeks, it'll be interesting to see if anyone notices any changes.

[Tiny]

One is advised for rhinoplasty that 60-80% of the swelling is gone in 3 months but the final 10% of the swelling takes 1 year to go down. I was bummed after my rhino at the 3 month mark as I had significant supratip swelling that didn't seem to be improving. But suddenly at 4 months it looked much better. I've seen a lot more improvement in weeks 12-16 than I did in weeks 6-12.

Jaw surgery is less subtle than rhino but I would still allow minimum 4 months for swelling and 6-8 months for soft tissue remoulding. This can take longer in men as you guys have thicker skin