Will The Muscular Tightness Two Weeks After A Sliding Genioplasty Resolve With More Healing Time?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m 2 weeks post my surgery so I wanted to quickly touch base with you.  First things first, I’m so happy with my results! The projection is perfect, surprisingly my lip position has changed too it doesn’t look receded anymore. I also have no loss of sensation- yay! I’m so grateful to you, THANK YOU! Attaching a few pictures for your review.

My only concerns are:

1) I have some muscular/soft tissue asymmetry. My right side drops lower than my left when I smile or open my mouth. Not sure if that’s due to residual swelling or muscular tightness. Although I don’t think there is any swelling left. Is there anything I can do about it?

2) I started working out 10 days after the surgery and have noticed there is generally more swelling and slight pain the next day. Should I continue going to the gym or take a break?

Thanks again,

A: Thank you for the follow up. I would say that your sliding genioplasty went absolutely perfectly. It could not have gone any better. I actually used an 8mm plate and bent it to make for a 4mm vertical lengthening. I thought it replicated your jaw thrusting maneuver fairly closely. Not having any loss of sensation, temporary as it might have been, is always a bonus.

In answer to your questions:

1) It is common and expected that the mentalis muscle function will temporarily work a bit abnormally as its entire attachment to its bony origin was separated and was reconstructed back together. (that has to be done on all sliding genioplasties) The muscle recovery will take the longest time to normal function and that could be up to 3 months after the procedure.

2) I would not hesitate to get back to working out. That may cause some mild increase in swelling, which is expected, but is not of any concern.

Despite how well the first few weeks of surgery have gone, it is important to realize that a complete recovery, and the many nuances of it, takes a full three to four months. So you have a long way to go yet!

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana