bimax recovery: fearmongering or true hell?

[OnSight]

i have vertical maxillary deficiency, easy to fraud by leaving mouth hanging open a bit, but still noticeable when i talk, eat, etc.

probably need le fort 1 or something, going to the orthodontist soon and figuring this out, avoiding elastics at all costs, at my current bone age they wont even work anyway

anyways is recovery from bimax surgery actually that bad? idc about the pain thats just temporary but im worried about the time i wont get back having to stay home for 2 weeks to a month of an important year of highschool

main worries are swelling and inhibition from speaking and engaging in most activity

i also train MMA and wrestle so how much time away from those will i have

 

[chrishell]

i had bimax in jan

i had no pain ever

if you have titanium plates, you can have start soft food within a few weeks

with lefort your nose will be severely congested with a hardened bloodmucus mix for several weeks

speaking was impossible for about a week.
for 3 weeks more it was but possible but difficult

lefort area sensation came back within 1 month for me

still don't have all my chin and lower lip back but coming back slowly

only soft food until around 2 months

at 2 months i could eat most foods, but held off on things like baguettes and steak until 3 months

swelling lasts a very long time. according to recent research 20% on average remains at 6 months, 10% remains at 1 year. And it sticks around in the paranasal area, which makes you look bloated for a long time. But most probably look "natural" to others by 2 to 3 months. It's still going down for me. You read a lot on jaw surgery reddit and other sites of people saying "my swelling was gone by 2 months!" no it hasnt. It's just they decide the moment they begin liking their new look is when the swelling is gone.

takes over a year for bone to fill in the gaps but by 6 to 8 months it has been filled with porous prebone

2 months before you can go back to the gym. probably 6 months to a year before you can do mma again. Those are very high risk activities.

But youd want to ask your surgeon about all these things

 

[normie_joe]

i had bimax in jan

i had no pain ever

if you have titanium plates, you can have start soft food within a few weeks

with lefort your nose will be severely congested with a hardened bloodmucus mix for several weeks

speaking was impossible for about a week.
for 3 weeks more it was but possible but difficult

lefort area sensation came back within 1 month for me

still don't have all my chin and lower lip back but coming back slowly

only soft food until around 2 months

at 2 months i could eat most foods, but held off on things like baguettes and steak until 3 months

swelling lasts a very long time. according to recent research 20% on average remains at 6 months, 10% remains at 1 year. And it sticks around in the paranasal area, which makes you look bloated for a long time. But most probably look "natural" to others by 2 to 3 months. It's still going down for me. You read a lot on jaw surgery reddit and other sites of people saying "my swelling was gone by 2 months!" no it hasnt. It's just they decide the moment they begin liking their new look is when the swelling is gone.

takes over a year for bone to fill in the gaps but by 6 to 8 months it has been filled with porous prebone

2 months before you can go back to the gym. probably 6 months to a year before you can do mma again. Those are very high risk activities.

But youd want to ask your surgeon about all these things

Make a thread my guy, this shithole needs surgerymaxxed threads.

 

[Acne Victim]

i had a huge advancement and only had some pain on my TMJ after a few weeks and it was temporary. its all fine

 

[chrishell]

also forgot to add ive had jaw clicking when i open my mouth

im told it usualy goes away by the 1 year mark

also the tightness feeling on the lower jaw takes forever to go away

guess that doesnt apply if you just doing LEFORT

 

[OnSight]

i had bimax in jan

i had no pain ever

if you have titanium plates, you can have start soft food within a few weeks

with lefort your nose will be severely congested with a hardened bloodmucus mix for several weeks

speaking was impossible for about a week.
for 3 weeks more it was but possible but difficult

lefort area sensation came back within 1 month for me

still don't have all my chin and lower lip back but coming back slowly

only soft food until around 2 months

at 2 months i could eat most foods, but held off on things like baguettes and steak until 3 months

swelling lasts a very long time. according to recent research 20% on average remains at 6 months, 10% remains at 1 year. And it sticks around in the paranasal area, which makes you look bloated for a long time. But most probably look "natural" to others by 2 to 3 months. It's still going down for me. You read a lot on jaw surgery reddit and other sites of people saying "my swelling was gone by 2 months!" no it hasnt. It's just they decide the moment they begin liking their new look is when the swelling is gone.

takes over a year for bone to fill in the gaps but by 6 to 8 months it has been filled with porous prebone

2 months before you can go back to the gym. probably 6 months to a year before you can do mma again. Those are very high risk activities.

But youd want to ask your surgeon about all these things

u think being lean would counterbalance the swelling visually?

im starvemaxxing rn, i actually have bones so my face looks leaner than most lean ltn’s while im at 23% bf, so wtv bf% i stop at i’ll probably look very facially lean

i have very wide zygos so bloating is my #1 enemy, thus the swelling is my main worry atp

i feel like being lean before going into the surgery is ideal so the swelling looks better and you can eat in a surplus for recovery and not look like shit when all is said done - am i wrong?

 

[chrishell]

u think being lean would counterbalance the swelling visually?

im starvemaxxing rn, i actually have bones so my face looks leaner than most lean ltn’s while im at 23% bf, so wtv bf% i stop at i’ll probably look very facially lean

i have very wide zygos so bloating is my #1 enemy, thus the swelling is my main worry atp

i feel like being lean before going into the surgery is ideal so the swelling looks better and you can eat in a surplus for recovery and not look like shit when all is said done - am i wrong?

My guess is that if anything the leanness will make your swelling more obvious

Most people also lose weight during the recovery in the months postop because of the liquid/soft food diet. You may even want to bulk up in the months leading up to the surgery to counteract that.

I wouldn't alter your normal eating habits to potentially counteract the visual effects of swelling, its unpredictable, and you should just plan to not like how you look and ignore mirrors for many months anyway.

 

[OnSight]

My guess is that if anything the leanness will make your swelling more obvious

Most people also lose weight during the recovery in the months postop because of the liquid/soft food diet. You may even want to bulk up in the months leading up to the surgery to counteract that.

I wouldn't alter your normal eating habits to potentially counteract the visual effects of swelling, its unpredictable, and you should just plan to not like how you look and ignore mirrors for many months anyway.

would the swelling be more obvious comparing before and after or would it generally make the swelling more apparent to someone seeing you the first time?

i'm definitely not altering my eating habits just for the surgery, im anyways getting lean regardless

im really hoping after a month my swelling wouldnt be subhuman, i cant miss that much school

i dont think i need bimax done anyway, just lefort - hanging my jaw open a little leads to my face looking totally normal, broscience but im pretty sure thats indicative my maxilla just needs to come down a bit (which le fort will do)

 

[chrishell]

would the swelling be more obvious comparing before and after or would it generally make the swelling more apparent to someone seeing you the first time?

i'm definitely not altering my eating habits just for the surgery, im anyways getting lean regardless

im really hoping after a month my swelling wouldnt be subhuman, i cant miss that much school

i dont think i need bimax done anyway, just lefort - hanging my jaw open a little leads to my face looking totally normal, broscience but im pretty sure thats indicative my maxilla just needs to come down a bit (which le fort will do)

Opening your mouth a little simulates a downgraft.

My face definitely looked fat after a month. You would be go fine to go back to school after a month but you may need an excuse why you look weird. Even with just LeFort it is substantial. The LeFort swelling lasts much longer than BSSO swelling in DJS patients for example.

 

[OnSight]

Opening your mouth a little simulates a downgraft.

My face definitely looked fat after a month. You would be go fine to go back to school after a month but you may need an excuse why you look weird. Even with just LeFort it is substantial. The LeFort swelling lasts much longer than BSSO swelling in DJS patients for example.

ppl know i train combat sports, i got a pretty good excuse luckily

yeah i dont know exactly what i need, le fort would be cool but if i dont need it its wtv, a more minimal surgery has its pluses - if a downgraft even is more minimal

well see what happens, ill probably make another thread about it

 

[klamus]

Absolute fear mongering. I had virtually no pain after surgery. I didn't Even take painkillers at home. Its just Boring to eat slop For 6 weeks. I mean its simple. A bone that is Cut doesnt Hurt. Theres nothing about The operation that would Hurt you. You Will Be tired during The first week but all of this is an absolute nothingburger.

 

[klamus]

Deleted

 

[k99]

i had bimax in jan

i had no pain ever

if you have titanium plates, you can have start soft food within a few weeks

with lefort your nose will be severely congested with a hardened bloodmucus mix for several weeks

speaking was impossible for about a week.
for 3 weeks more it was but possible but difficult

lefort area sensation came back within 1 month for me

still don't have all my chin and lower lip back but coming back slowly

only soft food until around 2 months

at 2 months i could eat most foods, but held off on things like baguettes and steak until 3 months

swelling lasts a very long time. according to recent research 20% on average remains at 6 months, 10% remains at 1 year. And it sticks around in the paranasal area, which makes you look bloated for a long time. But most probably look "natural" to others by 2 to 3 months. It's still going down for me. You read a lot on jaw surgery reddit and other sites of people saying "my swelling was gone by 2 months!" no it hasnt. It's just they decide the moment they begin liking their new look is when the swelling is gone.

takes over a year for bone to fill in the gaps but by 6 to 8 months it has been filled with porous prebone

2 months before you can go back to the gym. probably 6 months to a year before you can do mma again. Those are very high risk activities.

But youd want to ask your surgeon about all these things

what was ur condition and who was ur surgeon

 

[OnSight]

Absolute fear mongering. I had virtually no pain after surgery. I didn't Even take painkillers at home. Its just Boring to eat slop For 6 weeks. I mean its simple. A bone that is Cut doesnt Hurt. Theres nothing about The operation that would Hurt you. You Will Be tired during The first week but all of this is an absolute nothingburger.

it would be unsurprising

most of the people you see on r/jawsurgery are overweight women who were finished to start with

that demo is probably not the most mental fortitude equipped jfl

 

[chrishell]

what was ur condition and who was ur surgeon

i had obstructive sleep apnea

cured my apnea and breathing issues, i also had septoplasty with it to open nose

 

[chrishell]

one thing that is not fearmongering though: do not underestimate the BDD you'll experience after the surgery. as the swelling goes down; perhaps one day you regret the whole thing and have an existential crisis and the next day you are extremely confident. It is an emotional rollercoaster not knowing for certain how you will turn out, not knowing what revision paths you may need to take if that ends up being the case, etc.

 

[longjohnmong]

the worst part about recovery for me was struggling to breathe through my fucked up nose with my teeth banded shut

 

[klamus]

one thing that is not fearmongering though: do not underestimate the BDD you'll experience after the surgery. as the swelling goes down; perhaps one day you regret the whole thing and have an existential crisis and the next day you are extremely confident. It is an emotional rollercoaster not knowing for certain how you will turn out, not knowing what revision paths you may need to take if that ends up being the case, etc.

Nah this is bullshit. Its an objective improvement to everyone who has it. You just Look better. Just like If you were 2" taller without drawbacks.

 

[chrishell]

Nah this is bullshit. Its an objective improvement to everyone who has it. You just Look better. Just like If you were 2" taller without drawbacks.

The analogy is moot because (1) with height you change one dimension. With double jaw surgery or an implant you are changing three dimensions. What might seem an improvement by one metric appears to be a step back by another metric and the mind's inability to form the full gestalt can make you paranoid. It's not nearly as obvious unless you had a severe deformity before hand. (2) It is common sense people have BDD much more often with their face than their body. (3) Swelling distorts the perception of your results much more with facial surgeries than with something like leg lengthening. Or adding lifts.

And I am speaking here primarily about the swelling. When you get a double jaw surgery you are swollen for over a year. On average, 7 to 10% remains after a year. If you know what the swelling looks like just a few days post op, then you will understand 10% is nothing negligible. And it takes even longer for the cut lymph nodes to reattach to the face and drain everything out. Sometimes you produce bizarre scar tissue patterns postop. Sometimes you get chronic longlasting infections that distort the result. Sometimes the bone fills in the gaps awkwardly. Sometimes you don't know exactly how to identify these issues and then sometimes your surgeon isn't responding to you or sometimes they aren't giving you the full picture or sometimes they realized they messed up but won't disclose it to you. I could go on and on but I have seen it drive some people insane.

If you had a severe deformity beforehand then you probably look better even with all the swelling. But say you dont. And say you get a 6mm genioplasty, think it looks overadvanced and you freak out for a few months. But turns out there was 2mm of residual swelling there. It goes away and now you're happy. You might think your face is fat and bloated for many months and think you got botched. But it turns out it is just the swelling. But then thing is sometimes it's not all "just the swelling." Maybe that, say, 2mm of awkward flesh that seems to be sitting in your paranasal area isn't actually swelling and just actually is how you look now and you hate it. And you don't know for sure if things will resolve in your favor. And it is this ambiguity that contributes to the shaky psychology of it all.

As I said above the people who say their swelling was gone by 2 months are lying. They just decide the first moment they begin liking their look is when the swelling is gone. But those are two separate moments.

The sooner one internalizes all this information by the way the more you realize almost every surgical result posted here is misleading because they post WAY too soon. I can't emphasize enough how useless it is to post pics of your surgery here like, 2 weeks postop. It promotes an incomplete, distorted, and deeply misleading picture of how these things go.

 

[chrishell]

Postoperative Edema Resolution Post-Orthognathic Triple Jaw Surgery: A Three-Dimensional Volumetric Analysis - PubMed

Most facial edema resolved during the first month following triple jaw surgery, with significant reduction in swelling between 6 and 12 months postoperatively. After 1 year, approximately 10% of the initial edema remained.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[ThatInfamousDude]

Absolute fear mongering. I had virtually no pain after surgery. I didn't Even take painkillers at home. Its just Boring to eat slop For 6 weeks. I mean its simple. A bone that is Cut doesnt Hurt. Theres nothing about The operation that would Hurt you. You Will Be tired during The first week but all of this is an absolute nothingburger.

Sounds very promising ngl.

From what I have seen it always sounds like the Grim Reaper is standing at the door lmao. But what I read in this thread, that is clearly not the case.

 

[ThatInfamousDude]

The analogy is moot because (1) with height you change one dimension. With double jaw surgery or an implant you are changing three dimensions. What might seem an improvement by one metric appears to be a step back by another metric and the mind's inability to form the full gestalt can make you paranoid. It's not nearly as obvious unless you had a severe deformity before hand. (2) It is common sense people have BDD much more often with their face than their body. (3) Swelling distorts the perception of your results much more with facial surgeries than with something like leg lengthening. Or adding lifts.

And I am speaking here primarily about the swelling. When you get a double jaw surgery you are swollen for over a year. On average, 7 to 10% remains after a year. If you know what the swelling looks like just a few days post op, then you will understand 10% is nothing negligible. And it takes even longer for the cut lymph nodes to reattach to the face and drain everything out. Sometimes you produce bizarre scar tissue patterns postop. Sometimes you get chronic longlasting infections that distort the result. Sometimes the bone fills in the gaps awkwardly. Sometimes you don't know exactly how to identify these issues and then sometimes your surgeon isn't responding to you or sometimes they aren't giving you the full picture or sometimes they realized they messed up but won't disclose it to you. I could go on and on but I have seen it drive some people insane.

If you had a severe deformity beforehand then you probably look better even with all the swelling. But say you dont. And say you get a 6mm genioplasty, think it looks overadvanced and you freak out for a few months. But turns out there was 2mm of residual swelling there. It goes away and now you're happy. You might think your face is fat and bloated for many months and think you got botched. But it turns out it is just the swelling. But then thing is sometimes it's not all "just the swelling." Maybe that, say, 2mm of awkward flesh that seems to be sitting in your paranasal area isn't actually swelling and just actually is how you look now and you hate it. And you don't know for sure if things will resolve in your favor. And it is this ambiguity that contributes to the shaky psychology of it all.

As I said above the people who say their swelling was gone by 2 months are lying. They just decide the first moment they begin liking their look is when the swelling is gone. But those are two separate moments.

The sooner one internalizes all this information by the way the more you realize almost every surgical result posted here is misleading because they post WAY too soon. I can't emphasize enough how useless it is to post pics of your surgery here like, 2 weeks postop. It promotes an incomplete, distorted, and deeply misleading picture of how these things go.

Hmm very high IQ comment. Thank you for this. Provides a good and realistic point of view.

 

[latetothegame]

i have vertical maxillary deficiency, easy to fraud by leaving mouth hanging open a bit, but still noticeable when i talk, eat, etc.

probably need le fort 1 or something, going to the orthodontist soon and figuring this out, avoiding elastics at all costs, at my current bone age they wont even work anyway

anyways is recovery from bimax surgery actually that bad? idc about the pain thats just temporary but im worried about the time i wont get back having to stay home for 2 weeks to a month of an important year of highschool

main worries are swelling and inhibition from speaking and engaging in most activity

i also train MMA and wrestle so how much time away from those will i have

There's no pain, the swelling is horrendous, and I was orblike for at least 1.5months. Definitely still swollen at Lf1 cut points. Especially after sleep (2mo post-op).

The first week or 2 is very uncomfortable. For me it was drooling, cracked lips, unable to feel lips, drinking and eating through squeeze bottles, gross teeth (I had segmental, was banded shut for a few days), liquid meds taste terrible.

I mean you kind of go 'zen mode' with the suffering after a point. It's not like you can go back and change it. The redditoids are right with their "Only way out is through" mantra.

 

[latetothegame]

And it is this ambiguity that contributes to the shaky psychology of it all.

Very good articulation - perfect encapsulation/characterization of the mental battle one experiences post bimax. Going through it right now (2mo post) and it's no joke. Logically you can understand that it's an improvement, but how much, how far, and to what other detriment is up in the air.

 

[normie_joe]

one thing that is not fearmongering though: do not underestimate the BDD you'll experience after the surgery. as the swelling goes down; perhaps one day you regret the whole thing and have an existential crisis and the next day you are extremely confident. It is an emotional rollercoaster not knowing for certain how you will turn out, not knowing what revision paths you may need to take if that ends up being the case, etc.

Brother word to word I havd the exact same experience.

 

[Snicket]

Brother word to word I havd the exact same experience.

I want you to know that I treat you better now that you have a female avi.

 

[normie_joe]

The analogy is moot because (1) with height you change one dimension. With double jaw surgery or an implant you are changing three dimensions. What might seem an improvement by one metric appears to be a step back by another metric and the mind's inability to form the full gestalt can make you paranoid. It's not nearly as obvious unless you had a severe deformity before hand. (2) It is common sense people have BDD much more often with their face than their body. (3) Swelling distorts the perception of your results much more with facial surgeries than with something like leg lengthening. Or adding lifts.

And I am speaking here primarily about the swelling. When you get a double jaw surgery you are swollen for over a year. On average, 7 to 10% remains after a year. If you know what the swelling looks like just a few days post op, then you will understand 10% is nothing negligible. And it takes even longer for the cut lymph nodes to reattach to the face and drain everything out. Sometimes you produce bizarre scar tissue patterns postop. Sometimes you get chronic longlasting infections that distort the result. Sometimes the bone fills in the gaps awkwardly. Sometimes you don't know exactly how to identify these issues and then sometimes your surgeon isn't responding to you or sometimes they aren't giving you the full picture or sometimes they realized they messed up but won't disclose it to you. I could go on and on but I have seen it drive some people insane.

If you had a severe deformity beforehand then you probably look better even with all the swelling. But say you dont. And say you get a 6mm genioplasty, think it looks overadvanced and you freak out for a few months. But turns out there was 2mm of residual swelling there. It goes away and now you're happy. You might think your face is fat and bloated for many months and think you got botched. But it turns out it is just the swelling. But then thing is sometimes it's not all "just the swelling." Maybe that, say, 2mm of awkward flesh that seems to be sitting in your paranasal area isn't actually swelling and just actually is how you look now and you hate it. And you don't know for sure if things will resolve in your favor. And it is this ambiguity that contributes to the shaky psychology of it all.

As I said above the people who say their swelling was gone by 2 months are lying. They just decide the first moment they begin liking their look is when the swelling is gone. But those are two separate moments.

The sooner one internalizes all this information by the way the more you realize almost every surgical result posted here is misleading because they post WAY too soon. I can't emphasize enough how useless it is to post pics of your surgery here like, 2 weeks postop. It promotes an incomplete, distorted, and deeply misleading picture of how these things go.

I'm gonna copy paste this, because you articulated my exact feelings better than I could.

 

[greycel]

i had obstructive sleep apnea

cured my apnea and breathing issues, i also had septoplasty with it to open nose

Why didn’t you do a septorhino?
Also a rhinoplasty makes the nose 85% of its original strength. Doing 2 separately would make it much weaker than had you done the septorhino together?

 

[lurking truecel]

Why didn’t you do a septorhino?
Also a rhinoplasty makes the nose 85% of its original strength. Doing 2 separately would make it much weaker than had you done the septorhino together?

Weakness comes from surgeons not know how to support the nose with cartiallage and diffrent types of grafts. Its insane how much butchery is going around with cheap rhinoplasties

 

[lurking truecel]

I had bimax and the recovery is rollercaster. Not much pain, just discomfort both mentally and physically. And also you cant compare the recovery much do someone else as it depends on age, surgeon, and esp type of surgery. Some moves the whole maxilla 4 mm down and creating a big gap between upper maxilla and lower. Meanwhile someone else just slides the maxilla frontally and maybe dont even rotates the back. Which obv makes the time for regrowth diffrent. And the plates can be placed in diff areas making swelling diff for many. Thats probably when you see some reddit guy getting a underadvanced regular hospital insurance covered bimax that their swelling might be gone fast because they moved the maxilla 2 mm and bsso 4 mm lineraly.

 

[HorseMan7]

I had bimax and the recovery is rollercaster. Not much pain, just discomfort both mentally and physically. And also you cant compare the recovery much do someone else as it depends on age, surgeon, and esp type of surgery. Some moves the whole maxilla 4 mm down and creating a big gap between upper maxilla and lower. Meanwhile someone else just slides the maxilla frontally and maybe dont even rotates the back. Which obv makes the time for regrowth diffrent. And the plates can be placed in diff areas making swelling diff for many. Thats probably when you see some reddit guy getting a underadvanced regular hospital insurance covered bimax that their swelling might be gone fast because they moved the maxilla 2 mm and bsso 4 mm lineraly.

I assume bigger surgical movements are also way harder to predict the soft tissue changes for vs smaller ones. What kind of movements did you have and are you happy with the results?

 

[lurking truecel]

I assume bigger surgical movements are also way harder to predict the soft tissue changes for vs smaller ones. What kind of movements did you have and are you happy with the results?

5 upper and 15 lower, which is probably average. 5 ccw clockwise rotation. And yea i am happy considering my base. Yea soft tissue changes is kinda hard to predict whatever movements. I think that part is what is most dependent on the surgeon

 

[throwaway5028]

I'd go through all the pain in the world