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.
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.
I actually kind of liked having an excuse to eat ice cream for breakfast, but the puffiness was a pain. I know a lot of people swear by alternating heat and ice, but I found that just sticking with ice (like, actual frozen peas in a towel) helped more for me, especially right after the procedure. Heat made things feel a bit more swollen for some reason? Maybe I just overdid it.
As for eating, I totally get what you mean about feeling like your cheek is in the way. I had to cut everything super small and basically just let it melt in my mouth, which was...not fun. But honestly, I started to care less about how it looked after a couple days. I think you're right that most people don't notice unless we bring it up. Still, it's hard not to obsess when your face feels so off balance.
Jaw stretches freaked me out too—my dentist said to wait at least 48 hours, but I was paranoid about moving my jaw at all. Did anyone else get weird tingling when the numbness faded? That was almost worse than the swelling for me.
Interesting, I actually had the opposite experience with heat vs. ice. My dentist said to use ice for the first 24 hours, but after that, a warm compress seemed to help the swelling go down faster for me. Maybe it just depends on the person? The tingling when the numbness wore off was super weird though—I kept poking my cheek to make sure it was really my face again.