Just saw my surgeon for my 4 week checkup and everything looks good. My range of motion is now 40 mm and he said that's right on track and maybe a little better than most (he was probably just being nice, but I'll take it!). I'm finally allowed to blow my nose (gently) and drink through a straw. I tried drinking through a straw on the way home and it was.....awkward. My upper lip doesn't move enough yet to get around the straw when it's between my teeth, so I have to either suck liquid onto my front teeth (gross) or put the straw in through the corner of my mouth (weird). Guess I have bit more healing to do before drinking through a straw is do-able.
The BEST news, however, is that he made an appointment to remove my splint in 2 weeks. Yippee! I still hear some clicking in my upper right jaw, much less than before but it's still clicking. I was worried that this might impact the splint removal date, but my surgeon said it's normal and nothing to worry about. Whew! After the splint is removed I will go straight from his office to my orthodontist to have a new continuous wire made for my upper teeth.
I asked about using muscle relaxers for my jaw tension and headaches, and he suggested taking Aleve every 12 hours instead. Grr.I'll try it but I must confess that I don't think it will work. Ibuprofen is my holy grail for pain relief and it wouldn't even put a small dent in my headaches. My other concern is that NSAIDS slow down bone healing. My surgeon isn't concerned about this but I am - I've come this far and don't want to do anything that will slow down the healing process. I need to balance my paranoia with the ability to function without holding a heating pad to my head, too...
Glad to see you are doing well! My jaw tension was caused by the splint and went away when they dissected it from my mouth. =) Having something in your mouth makes you want to chew on it. Best of luck!
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