When will the pain go away?

[Guest guest]

It's Day 5 post-op now and I have a few questions:

1) How long does the pain go on? It's definitely a bearable, kind of

low, dull pain and I have meds if it gets bad. Wondering when you

were able to stop using the meds? Does the pain slowly drift off or

kind of curb off quickly?

2) When does the tingling, nerve regeneration start? I've felt a few

kind of minimal bursts of tingling in the upper jaw region near my

nose, but it's not the type of tingling I expected after reading a

lot of posts about it. I expected it to be more like " electrical

charges " , maybe like a foot waking up from sleep. But this tingling

is barely noticeable and not really obstructive to focusing/talking,

etc. Is this normal, or maybe I just haven't experienced the full

effect yet?

3) Should I try to smile and use my cheek muscles at Day 5? I feel

that I can use my muscles more and more each day, but I'm not sure if

I should. Can this harm the stitches or do any other damage?

Thanks for your replies! I appreciate your help.