Re: Cheek incisions for lower jaw surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue

I had lower and upper surgery almost 5 weeks ago and yes I had the

incisions on my lower cheeks... the good news is that it is the

easiest thing out of the whole surgery:) No one even notices the small

marks that were left behind ... I think they will gradually just fade

at least to the the point where I wont even notice they were there..

One thing I would like to point out is some people are more prone to

get keloids... scar tissue which doesnt understand your wound has

healed and continues to go grow and eventually you are left w/ a big

ugly scar. Not to step on anyones toes but keloids are more common in

african americans but I am caucasion and have had 3 keloids so the

incisions were a big del for me ... but NO problems so far and again

they were by far the last thing I thought about after my surgery:0)

> For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all

have

> incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I know

> the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if there

is

> a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future date,

> what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

wrote:

" ...some people are more prone to get keloids... scar tissue which

doesnt understand your wound has healed and continues to go grow and

eventually you are left w/ a big ugly scar. "

Thanks for your response, . The reason I asked about the cheek

incisions is that my daughter--scheduled for upper, lower, genio on

May 24--is a person who does scar as you mentioned. At our one and

only evaluation appt with the surgeon back in mid-November, we

brought up the issue; but, for the life of me, I can't really

remember what he said. (There was just too much info at the time. I

should have written things down.) It seems to me that he said that

knowing that, there was some other technique he could use to avoid

scarring. I wondered if anyone else had heard anything to that

effect. I'd hate to have her wind up with bumpy keloids on her face

on top of everything else. (I have to say my greatest worry is the

worsening of the TMJ problem since hers is " internal " derangement.

The condyles are screwed up.) Well, we have a couple of appts coming

up; however, I know the next one is just for the molds, and I doubt

the doctor will be available. So many questions have arisen now that

I've been involved in this group and reading everyone's posts. Only 5

1/2 weeks to go. Sue

[Guest guest]

Sue, my doc doesn't do cheek incisions at all; I had upper & lower

and everything was done from the inside. Don't know why, but that's

his method. (He also uses a removable splint, which was awfully

nice)! Take care, Kris

[Guest guest]

Kris wrote:

> Sue, my doc doesn't do cheek incisions at all; I had upper & lower

> and everything was done from the inside. Don't know why, but that's

> his method. (He also uses a removable splint, which was awfully

> nice)! Take care, Kris

Kris, were you wired or banded? That's great that everything could be

done from the inside. As I mentioned, I seem to remember the surgeon

saying he could take steps to avoid those incisions for my daughter

since she scars easily. We are going to have to ask about that. Did

you have a class II or III correction? I hope all is going well for

you and that you are more than happy with your results. This is an

anxious period for us since the surgery is now just about 5 weeks off

and will be here before we know it. I won't believe it when she's

actually " on the other side " of surgery after years upon years of

dealing with all this! Sue

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

Like Kris, my surgeon did everything from inside my mouth, so no

incisions on my cheeks. I had upper, lower and genio done on Feb 28.

Doctor used rigid fixation. In my case I was neither wired or

banded, but I did have to wear a splint for 3 weeks.

Bob

> For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all

have

> incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I know

> the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if there

is

> a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future date,

> what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

Sue,

I had both upper and lower and I had the small incissions on my

cheeks. The doctor took the stiches after about one week and I never

had any problem. I am now 4 weeks post-op and you can't see any

scars.

Sabine

> For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all

have

> incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I know

> the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if there

is

> a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future date,

> what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

I have not had surgery yet, but my doc has told me he will make the

tiny incisions for the screws. And that the scars will not be

noticeable. I did not ask about other options, but I know they used

to do it differently. This is supposed to be the better way.

> For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all have

> incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I know

> the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if there is

> a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future date,

> what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

I have not had surgery yet, but my doc has told me he will make the

tiny incisions for the screws. And that the scars will not be

noticeable. I did not ask about other options, but I know they used

to do it differently. This is supposed to be the better way.

> For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all have

> incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I know

> the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if there is

> a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future date,

> what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

I had upper and lower on 2/14 and one tiny single suture incision on

each cheek, but it was actually located down along my jawline more

than right on my cheek. The stitches were removed 5 days post op. I

can feel the small spots of scar tissue inder the skin when i run my

fingers over it lightly, but can;t see them on my face anymore. When

they were still pretty new, no one that didnt know I had the surgery

had any clue that they were there. They are slowly but surely

feelingsmaller to me every day, but don't worry about them being

visible, mine aren't.

Lucy in Southern NJ

PS - On a non-related note, I celebrated my 2 month post-op

anniversary with a piece of pizza.....YUMMY! Felt really weird but I

have never been able to bite through food with my front teeth...how

cool! I'm nowhere near attempting a steak just yet, but tryingnew

things every day and doing great with it.

> > For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all

have

> > incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I

know

> > the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> > scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if

there is

> > a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> > those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future

date,

> > what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> > Thanks. Sue

[Guest guest]

hi sue,

i had upper and lower surgery in janurary and my doc gave me option

of having the screws for my lower or just banding and have the bone

fuse naturally. he advised me that that is the safest way in that by

drilling the screws can in rare instances cause nerve damage or at

least has a higher risk factor. i was very pleased with the way my

turned out, i had no numbness in my lower jaw or chin area.

> > For those of you who have had the lower jaw surgery, did you all

have

> > incisions made in the cheeks for the screws to be inserted? I

know

> > the incisions are very small, but did you have any problem with

> > scarring? It seems that the doctors can do it another way if

there is

> > a problem in that respect. What has been your experience? Or--for

> > those of you having the lower jaw surgery (BSSO) at a future

date,

> > what have your doctors said about these incisions, if anything?

> > Thanks. Sue