Immediately after surgery
A: Due to the anesthesia you received during surgery, you won't feel pain at the actual surgery site. Most patients' first complaint is the discomfort they feel in their throats from the tube that was used to administer the general anesthesia. This is normal and will pass. You will also need to focus on breathing deeply and not falling asleep. A nurse will be by your side to make sure you don't fall back asleep. The reason we encourage you to breathe deeply is to expel the remaining anesthesia from your lungs. This will reduce the possibility of nausea or headaches from the anesthesia. A nurse will come in every few hours to replace your ice pack to help prevent swelling.
Q: Can I sleep on my side?
A: The beds provided are set up so that patients can sleep with their upper bodies at a 45 degree angle from the ground. This is to prevent swelling and to help with breathing. When you are discharged from the hospital, we recommend you to sleep on your back. It is best to wait for your bones to heal before you sleep on your side- this will take roughly 2 to 3 months. Sleeping on your side or your front before your bones are fully healed may affect the shape of your face.
Food
A: During your stay at the hospital, we will provide a liquid diet for you (called Nucare) three times a day. You may bring other liquids with you on your surgery day and keep them in the fridge provided.Due to the digestive tract being weakened from the general anesthesia, we do not recommend any juices or milk as there is a possibility of it irritating the digestive system and causing diarrhea. A safer option would be sports drinks (such as Pocari Sweat). Please do not confuse sports drinks with energy drinks: Red Bull and other energy drinks are not recommended.
When you are discharged, you may begin eating plain yogurts or ice cream. You may also purchase pumpkin puree, silken tofu, or chocolate protein shakes. The thing that all these food items have in common is that they have a smooth consistency. It is important to avoid any fruit in yogurts because fruit chunks and seeds will be difficult to clean immediately after the surgery due to the swelling and it is important that you are able to rinse your mouth clean following the surgery to prevent any infections.
A: This depends on which surgery you have done. For the V-line or zygoma reduction surery you may eat soft foods at 2 weeks but double jaw surgery patients need to sustain a liquid diet for one month. At the 2-week mark you may want to try eating rice in soup or bread dipped in hot chocolate. Generally speaking, anything you can disintegrate by pinching your fingers is safe to eat, so if you wanted to eat bread or rice it's better to reduce any potential strain on your teeth by letting it sit in a liquid. At one month you may eat regular rice or noodle dishes and fish. You should wait three months before eating anything tough or chewy such as certain types of bread or meats.
A: We encourage patients to do some light walking after being discharged to encourage blood circulation and ultimately help with the swelling and healing. You may begin jogging after one month. Avoid strenuous activities like running or lifting heavy weights until three months after the surgery. You may also begin swimming at 3 months. At six months after the surgery, your bones are considered fully healed and you may partake in sports that run the possibility of being hit in the face such as boxing or ball sports like soccer and baseball.
A: Technically speaking, any lasers or radiofrequency facial treatments can be done one month after the surgery. However, we do not recommend any dermatological treatments until all the swelling has dissipated. This is because you may not be able to reap the full benefits of the treatments while you are swollen.
A: Similar to the dermatological treatments, you are technically able to undergo surgery of other facial features (eyes and nose) one month after your jaw surgery. It is best to wait for the swelling to fully subside before getting a consultation for other surgeries so that doctors will have an accurate idea of how to proceed with the surgeries. That would take 3 to 6 months and also applies to botox, filler, facial implants, and fat grafting.
Surgical Pins
Q: Can I use an MRI machine if I still have pins from the surgery? Will they be a problem in airport security?
A: Our pins are made from titanium which is not affected by the magnetic field of the MRI machine. Additionally, the pins are small enough for you to be able to enter airport security without issues.
A: Although keeping the pins does not negatively affect your health or cause issues with MRIs or airport security, the locations of the pins may interfere with any future dental implants you may need.
A: We recommend patients to wait 6 months after the initial surgery before pin removal to allow for their bones to heal but also to remove their pins within 2 years of the surgery due to the fact that pins become more difficult to remove as time passes.
A few weeks after surgery
A: Yes. The thickness of your jaw bone may be different on each side, or the amount of soft tissue on each side of your face may be different. Some people may also have more capillaries on one side of their face, as humans are inherently asymmetrical. All of these affect how much you will swell, and until the swelling fully subsides, any appearance of being asymmetrical is due to uneven swelling.
A: Numbness and tingling are common side effects to the surgery that usually take a few months to fully disappear.
Q: My nose looks different. Why?
A: There are several reasons this can happen. The first reason is swelling. The area around the nose is most prone to swelling and therefore the nose may temporarily appear larger. The second reason is that the bones around your nose have changed shape, so the way your nose sits on your face will also change. The third reason is that during double jaw surgery, when the upper jaw is being operated on, the skin around your mouth and nose stretch. To prevent your nose from becoming wider, we will cinch your nose from the inside using surgical thread. Lastly, if you have opted to have your face slimmed drastically, your nose will appear larger solely due to the fact that your face as a whole is smaller.
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