I get nervous about overdoing movement too soon, but at the same time, leaving my jaw totally alone made it feel even tighter.
I actually found the gentle jaw stretches really helpful, even though I was worried about making things worse. My dentist said light movement can help stop that “locked” feeling, as long as you don’t force it. On the ice vs. heat thing, I honestly felt like heat worked better for me after day two—ice just made my cheek hurt more and didn’t seem to change the swelling much. Maybe everyone’s body reacts a bit differently? I did take ibuprofen for a couple days, mostly because the swelling felt super uncomfortable. The lopsided look bugged me too... I kept checking the mirror and felt like it was so obvious, but no one commented.
That’s interesting about heat vs. ice—my dentist pushed ice, but honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was helping or just making my face numb. I did the jaw stretches too, but super gently, since I was paranoid about messing something up. Did you notice the swelling going down faster with heat? Or was it just more comfortable? The lopsided look drove me nuts for a few days, but I guess we notice it way more than anyone else does.
I totally get what you mean about the numb face—ice packs just made me feel like a chipmunk who fell asleep in the freezer. I tried both heat and ice, but honestly, I couldn’t really see a huge difference either way. Heat felt a bit nicer after the first day, though, maybe because it was soothing? Like you, I was super careful with the jaw stretches. The idea of making things worse freaked me out.
The lopsided look is the worst! I kept checking mirrors and asking my partner if it looked weird, but he said he could barely tell. Did you find eating tough too? I had to stick to mushy foods for a while and even then, I felt like my cheek was in the way. It’s wild how much we fixate on it when probably nobody else notices unless we point it out.