Mouth opening restricted after surgery - any tips?

[InvisalignOnly]

I had double jaw surgery about 6 weeks ago, everything seems to be going really well, however I am starting to worry about my mouth opening. After the surgery my bite was fine so they did not give me a splint or bands or anything, and at that point I thought my opening was pretty good, I could get a baby spoon in easily. 6 weeks on, my opening has hardly improved. I measured it today and it is just over 2cm which is way less than normal or what it used to be before surgery, of course.

I read conflicting information about this online. Some say start exercises (putting ice cream sticks in etc.) as soon as two weeks after surgery, but I am too scared of causing damage before the bones are fused. I spoke to my ortho who agreed the opening is restricted but told me 'do not force it open' but what else can be done to improve it? I have been opening my mouth as wide as I can and holding it in that position several times a day for the last few days but can't see any change.

Anybody has any experience with this? Any tips on what to do / what not to do, and how soon after surgery? Also, dumb question probably but I do not even understand why is it that people can't open their mouth properly after jaw surgery. Does it have anything to do with the joints?

[GJ]

Yes the joints get fluid in them and swell.
I was told to open them as much as I could without pain.

[Gadwins]

6 weeks are still too soon. I tell you, that after 2-3 month you can begin to worry. Before that, count your calories and take some light walks.

[InvisalignOnly]

Yes the joints get fluid in them and swell.
I was told to open them as much as I could without pain.

I see, thanks for the info! Do you think there's anything doctors could do to the joints to make them less swollen? Sorry if it's a personal question but can I ask if your mouth opening has improved a lot since surgery?

[InvisalignOnly]

count your calories and take some light walks.

I wish but I'm back at work now and my work involves speaking in front of groups of people. It is quite a problem for me that I cannot project my voice and cannot speak loudly due to the mouth opening issue. I started using a microphone for now but it's not ideal so I'd really like to find a way to open my mouth wider if possible.

[Gadwins]

ok, I see. Although I did not have a bimax, I was really restricted to speak fluently and got easily sore after a short period. I couldn't hold any tutorials for my students. I understand that a company is not as flexible as a university, but maybe you could find any solution with your colleagues? Normally if the swelling subsides arround the jaw joint area and your lip area, it should get automatically better.

I don't know if you had also a surgery at your bottom jaw, but normally this surgery damage a little the jaw joints and it needs time to recovery.

[InvisalignOnly]

I don't know if you had also a surgery at your bottom jaw, but normally this surgery damage a little the jaw joints and it needs time to recovery.

Thanks - can I ask how long did it take for you to open your mouth wider? I had double jaw surgery with genioplasty. I can speak really well without any problems, even for hours on end (tried and tested  ) but not loudly, simply because I cannot really open my mouth. If I try to raise my voice, it hurts a lot straight away. Of course, people do not know what's going on and keep asking me to speak louder, super annoying.

I just hate these conversations: 'please speak up' - 'I cannot, I just had jaw surgery and...' - 'What did you say? Please speak up!" 

[GJ]

I see, thanks for the info! Do you think there's anything doctors could do to the joints to make them less swollen? Sorry if it's a personal question but can I ask if your mouth opening has improved a lot since surgery?

I had full range of motion within a few weeks.
From memory, I think they told me to exercise it each day and try to open it a bit more. But, before doing anything like that you should ask them.

[InvisalignOnly]

I had full range of motion within a few weeks.

Within a few weeks? Wow that's so lucky. I really feel like mine should be a lot better by now. Guess I'll wait until 2 months after the surgery and then make an appointment for physiotheraphy.

[Gadwins]

Thanks - can I ask how long did it take for you to open your mouth wider?[...]

I think it was after 8 weeks, maybe I could do it earlier but I didn't give any effort to do it. It felt restricted, but painless.

[InvisalignOnly]

Thanks for the input everyone - I saw my ortho again and it's now 'official', he said I should be able to open my mouth more by now and this is a concern but he has no experience with this and does not know what I should do about it. I'll e-mail the surgeon to ask about it and am planning to see a physio too when my new jaw is 'two months old'. I'm too scared to do anything before that and the ortho also says I should be careful and not force anything.

[GJ]

The joint has to remodel. This along with how it was seated during surgery cause swelling in the joint. It's normal.
Definitely no BJs for now, though.

[kavan]

If you have a job that requires you to speak LOUDLY (open mouth wider), using a microphone would help you be more patient with the healing process which is NOT going to go any faster to accommodate speaking loudly. Trying to, too soon, could be what's making your progress slower than others.

[InvisalignOnly]

If you have a job that requires you to speak LOUDLY (open mouth wider), using a microphone would help you be more patient with the healing process which is NOT going to go any faster to accommodate speaking loudly. Trying to, too soon, could be what's making your progress slower than others.

You have a point, I have to be careful. Ultimately I'm only doing jaw surgery once (I hope!!!) so healing right now is more important. I just have to accept that people around me don't understand what's wrong with me. I think this is the tricky thing with jaw surgery, after a few weeks you look 'normal' but still cannot do simple stuff like eating solids, drinking from a standard bottle, speaking 'properly' etc. and at least my personal experience is that people think you're 'weird'. Anyway, let them think that.

[InvisalignOnly]

Definitely no BJs for now, though.

I didn't want to bring that up but that's definitely my biggest concern besides speaking  . Guess I just need to wait and hope for the best, and my boyfriend can do the same. I am telling him at least he got a free upgrade face-wise (free for him, VERY expensive for me  ).