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1. • CommentAuthorrylege
   • CommentTimeNov 11th 2009

    
   I'm new to this board and really need some real answers from those that have "been there, done that!" I have a Maxilla that is around 5mm recessive so a Lefort I is going to have to happen or I'll have some real dental issues when I get older. Anyway, I just got braces to get all my teeth in the proper position which they say will take from 4 to 6 months depending on how fast they respond. I would like to know just how bad the recovery is? When I was told that I was going to need to do this, I really had reservations, and the Surgeon introduced me to a 15 year old girl who told me it was the best thing she ever did and seemed like it was nothing! Well with that, how can a 33 year old man sissy-out! So what is the bottom-line? Anyone?
2. • CommentAuthorla
   • CommentTimeNov 11th 2009

    
   it's hard but with your family/friends support + right medication you can do it .. I didn't want to do it at first but after i read about it and knew the benefits, i decided to have the surgery and now if time goes back i would do it again ,, i was not sure at the beginning but when i got back to my work everybody liked the results and confirmed to me that it was the right decision. however, this should be YOUR decision, you should know the risks vs. benefits and the expected results so you would know exactly what you want.
3. • CommentAuthorrylege
   • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009

    
   Thanks! Yeah the Surgeon and the Orthodontist were so relaxed about the whole thing, and seemed to indicate to me that this is as normal of a procedure as getting wisdom teeth taken out or tonsils. What was it like after the surgery? Were you just super-numb throughout your face or were you in major pain?
4. • CommentAuthorla
   • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009

    
   no it was not like extracting your wisdom teeth, it was worse! I don't want to freak you out more I'm just being honest. but hey, there are medications that help you through the pain .. it's just the first 4 days after that things get much better .. + the results are worth the pain ;)
   
   I wrote everything about my experience here: http://www.igotbraces.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=279&page=1 .. but I copied the parts about pain/ swelling/ numbness to answer your questions:
   
   * When I woke up I felt really congested cuz my nose was blocked with the blood clot (caused by the upper jaw impaction + the oxygen tube) and couldn't breath cuz my mouth was shut with the elastic wires to stabilize the jaws. After I was taken to my room, ice packs were placed on my face, oxygen supply to my nose (which was congested already so I don't know what was it for), a device that measure oxygen saturation on my finger and another to monitor the blood pressure. on my legs there was this thing that compresses every now and then to prevent the blood from clotting in the legs ( thrombosis). All of these stuff + the pain after surgery was too much my pain level was 9.5/10.
   
   * the Dr. came and cut the elastic wires so I could breath easily from my mouth which was of a major relief. I was given strong pain killers (morphine: best thing a man has ever made :p ), anti nausea and anti swelling medications. I also changed the heavy uncomfortable ice packs the hospital provided to those I already bought from cooljaw.com. The nurse agreed to remove the thing compressing my legs cuz I'm a low risk patient only if I did feet exercises every hour (which I did). pain level was 6/10
   
   ** Swelling and pain: as I mentioned before, the pain I felt after the surgery was 9.5/10 .. it decreased to 6-5 after pain killers. The following day it decreased to 4-7 the following was 4-6. From that day fwd the pain decreased. On the 4th or 5th day, the I stopped taking morphine, I used liquid Tylenol twice and did not use any pain medications afterwards.
   Swelling increased till the 3rd day and decreased afterwards. I was given anti-swelling medications in the hospital and used ice packs the first 5 days. First 3 days decreases the swelling but afterwards I used them just for comfort. From the 5th day people who didn’t know me before did not feel that I had surgery but though that I may have the flue because of the speaking difficulty. After that (during the 4th week) the swelling decreased and was minimal even to people who knew me before the surgery. swelling will completely go 3 months after surgery.
   
   ** parasthesia (numbness): when I got out of surgery my face (from the cheeks down) was numb .. I felt my left lower lip the day after surgery and parts of my upper lip. Since then everyday was a progress. Now (6 weeks since surgery) the sensation is starting to come back to my right lower lip.
5. • CommentAuthorrylege
   • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009 edited

    
   Interesting if not a little horrifying. How did you feel any pain if you were numb? Was the pain concentrated in a certain area? Also, the nausea, how intense and for how long?
   
   I read that your surgery was a little different than what I'm in for. I'm having a LeFort I, and only on the Maxilla to bring it forward a little and a little down. I hope maybe that will lessen my hell a little.
6. • CommentAuthorla
   • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009

    
   you feel numb superficially (on the skin or mucosa of your mouth) but you feel the pain deep (bone, muscles) .. you don't feel it from a certain area .. you just feel your head heavy and diffused pain from your face ( first few days only) .. nausea was on the first day ( as a result of general anesthesia) .. i needed to get up real slowly and someone to hold me on the way to the bathroom ,, on the second day i walked alone with no nausea
   
   yes i think yours is simpler than mine. numbness would be much less and usually the lower lip takes more time than the upper to gain sensation back (so doing the maxilla only is better than doing only the mandible) .. maybe the gingiva will take take a longer time to gain sensation but it's no big deal ..
   
   hope everything goes well for you .. just know what to expect but don't over think it :)
7. • CommentAuthorpushead
   • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009

    
   I am 10 months post up and still very numb on the bottom lip and a little on the top. I dont notice the top near as much unless I poke my gums. My lower lip feels strange all day and I am still not used to it.
8. • CommentAuthorla
   • CommentTimeNov 13th 2009

    
   sorry to hear that pushead .. regaining sensation depends on many things, some of them are:
   
   1- surgeon's skills and experience
   2- surgical techniques
   3- patient's age (the younger you are, the better chance you'll get your sensation back. the cut off point is 40 or 30 yrs old I'm not sure)
   4- patient's anatomy
   
   hope you get adapted soon :)
9. • CommentAuthorpushead
   • CommentTimeNov 13th 2009

    
   I am old so I figure that is my problem. I just turned 40. I got lucky on my surgeon. He is the best in the southeast, President of the board of dentistry and makes majority of the training videos for these surgeries to be used in colleges and abroad. His office staff is another story. They don't support his credentials at all.
10. • CommentAuthorrylege
    • CommentTimeNov 13th 2009

     
    Thanks for the info. I figure that since it looks like just a Lefort I on the Maxilla that I may not be getting near as bad as some have had to endure. I tend to let my mind run away sometimes and over dramatize the situation. Besides with bein a week into the braces I'm on my way anyways, so I might as well resign myself to my fate.
11. • CommentAuthorznthomps
    • CommentTimeNov 17th 2009

     
    I just had my surgery last Wednesday...and was totally freaking out before it. But to be completely honest, it has gone much more smoothly than I ever expected. The pain has been very minimal (certainly some significant discomfort from the swelling). I haven't taken pain medication since the 2nd day. The only pain I've had to deal with was caused by the breathing tube in my throat (it lacerated my uvula, when they pulled it out). But the results are already amazing, and the swelling has really gone down... And it can only get better! God bless on your journey!