Orthognathic Surgery Recovery: Dealing with the aftermath

gottswald

I am curious to hear from anyone who has had major orthognathic surgery and how that affected their nutrition and health. I had a LeFort I, 2 pieces w/o graft and a Mandibular BSSO w/ fixation a little over a year ago and I’m still adjusting to the result.

In the beginning it was obviously a progression from blended to soft foods. By 6mo I was ‘fully recovered’ according to my surgeon, I’m at about 14mo out now. I’m far past when I should have been eating anything I want and yet still I am struggling with some foods. A raw green bean was too much to bite through this weekend, forget carrots or nuts. I need to rebuild my jaw muscles? I’m still learning to chew. It never registered in my head until after the surgery that I didn't even know how to chew properly. My dentist says I have ‘significant bone loss’, but that it will come back with time and nutrition.

I see a lot of posts from other people who deal with the other issues I face, but not with mechanical deficiencies in chewing and how that affects diet choices. I’m working with an RDN to restore my eating and lay the foundation for rebuilding my life and diet. Everything is slowly getting better, except possibly the nerves in my face. But I still struggle with some foods and I am not sure what I do to rebuild that ability. I know it isn’t that rare but I’ve never heard someone else’s experience other than through surgeons.

jgnatca

Different surgery (gastric bypass) but I also have foods I have more trouble with. I’m a very determined person and if it takes three hours to get through it, I’ll do it.

If the blender becomes your new friend, so be it.

gottswald

I’ve known a few people who have gone through that surgery and it is rough. At least, they had struggles. I did my time with a blender, I blended things no one should. I tried doing layers of blending like a neapolitan of foods. I ended up wearing at least 10% of whatever I made because I couldn’t feel or control my face. It was amazing to finally be able to open my mouth wide enough for a spoon, to be able to ‘mash’ food in my mouth instead of blending was liberation.

Now though, I’m 14-15mo post surgery. I got my braces off. I am told I should have been able to eat steaks and carrots and anything else since 6mo post-op. I’m not sure if I’m not biting as hard as I can because the nerves are full of wrong signals or if my jaw strength is that seriously degraded.

I’m not sure the appropriate remedy for either issue.

gottswald

Has anyone even heard of jaw muscle exercise or is that more of a specialized therapy thing?

deannalfisher

Is there like jaw rehab therapy that you can get a referral for

gottswald

deannalfisher wrote: »

Is there like jaw rehab therapy that you can get a referral for

I honestly don't know, I will ask the surgeon. Communication has been poor, a lot of my difficulties were simply things that were not explained to me. At 6mo my surgeon seemed more accusatory than concerned that I was still having issues with food like chicken. I'm just curious, in the face of no real communication from my team, as to other people's experiences.

jgnatca

Surgeons are geared to fix things. If you are having trouble in your surgeons mind you have become a liability. A smart surgeon will give a referral to a physiotherapist.