The pain in my joint has returned a bit. Bummer. It's maybe a third of what it was before, so that's not bad, but it has got worse gradually and I am very scared that the decline will continue.
My mouth opening's a bit better now though. I can easily get two fingers in (but not two knuckles). I know it's still pathetic. I have slightly more side to side and forwards and back. Probably even more pathetic in those areas though.
It makes eating a bit hard. I can chew but not well. I am probably at 70 or 80% of full chewing capacity. Even fibrous stuff like an orange is difficult.
The scraping noise in the joint has been mostly replaced by something that sounds a bit like a thick gel with small crystals in it moving around. And even that is on the wane now, things are quieter in there (as the pain increases! Bizarre!).
It's hard not to get down about it. I do NOT want to be someone who had orthognathic surgery only to destroy her otherwise healthy jaw joint. This HAS to get better. It has been over 3 months since surgery now. But I guess that's really still early days.
On the bright side, my bite is still excellent.
Note to Cece: I know October 13th has been and gone. I wait in suspense and check your blog nearly every day!
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I'm sorry to hear you're having some pain coming back! Maybe it's just a little regression and that's it. I'm glad you still have a great bite-- any new pics soon? : ) Yes, Cece, where are you? Hoping all went well with your second opinion!
ReplyDeleteHey Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update, though I'm sorry to hear you've been in pain again. I think the general consensus is that during the first 6 - 12mths we can expect to still suffer some pain along with weird noises.
I'm 3 mths post op and like yourself am still getting pain in my joint and up near my cheek bone on the right side. I have limited ROM and can't even get 2 full fingers in - so believe it or not you're doing well!!!
I also read somewhere it takes up to 2 years for the TMJ to fully recover from the surgery and during this time it can still move around!
Look forward to hearing the next installment.
Take Care
Darnsie