I just had my fifth physio appointment this week and my changes have been very slow but a huge difference from where I started (which was 1.5cm), I'm now at 2.5-2.7cm. I've been seeing the therapist once a week for about 30 minutes for five weeks. Now we are moving two a biweekly appointment. The idea is that the jaw jack will sort of replace the need to go every week.
I'm feeling positive about this part of the recovery and for the most part I kind of forget that I'm unable to open to the fullest. The only reminder for me of the surgery at this point is the numbness in my lips and chin. However my physiotherapist keeps reminding me not to get discouraged that I'm not having drastic changes. I would say that at every about appointment I've been able to maintain the width and by the end of the appointment I'm up by .2cm which feels like a big win.
I'm also able to move my bottom jaw forward and side to side, I am still limited by my right side of jaw as it is really stiff- so I really focus on that side during my stretches. In a couple of weeks I'll have my second orthodontist appointment since the surgery and they should have a much easier time working on me now that I can open almost 2x more than I could when they saw me last.
Here are some pictures of my torture device (since it looks like something out of a movie) but honestly there is very little pain using it. The most pain I feel with stretches is the amount of force being pushed on my teeth when I'm with the therapist
so you push the button on the bottom and it will slide open and each notch has a measurement associated with in millimetres
first day using the tool
If anybody reads this blog and is feeling sad or hopeless about their recovery-there is light at the end of the tunnel. You got this!
