Top 2 Recovery Methods for Jaw Surgery: Lymphatic Drainage & Acupuncture

 About a week after my double jaw surgery and genioplasty, I was still pretty badly swollen and was getting increasingly annoyed by the numbness surrounding my lower lip and chin area. I needed something to speed up the recovery process. There was no way I was going to wait 6 months to a year for the numbness to go away. I was determined to find a solution. 

Hours upon hours of google research and I finally found two recommended recovery tips I was willing to try. The two recovery tips combined was my golden ticket!

1) Lymphatic Drainage Massage/ Manual Lymph Drainage: This is a super gentle and light massage that has helped me in significantly reducing inflammation, pain and numbness. Oh, and also its super relaxing! 

I started lymphatic drainage massage exactly a week after my surgery and was still pretty badly swollen. Just from my first visit alone, I noticed a dramatic reduction in inflammation. Yup, that's right just one visit alone and my chipmunk cheeks decreased tremendously. It was pretty shocking! 

  I have been going for lymphatic drainage once or sometimes even twice a week ever since and have not only noticed reduction in inflammation, but also by Week 6 post-surgery, I started to feel a transformational shift. I noticed that I was starting to regain some sensation back in my lower lip and chin area. 

Now looking back, I wish I had gone sooner! By the way, I am definitely by no means trying to make a sales pitch here, just simply sharing what has helped me in my own recovery process.

2) Acupuncture: About a month after my surgery, I did some more research and decided to try acupuncture as well. Acupuncture also really helps with reducing inflammation, pain and numbness.

 During my first acupuncture session, I could feel tingling sensations throughout my lower lip and chin area (which at the time were completely numb). I also noticed the reduction in inflammation around my face. 

Generally speaking, inflammation for this surgery varied for me on a daily basis. Some days I look more swollen than other days. However, the combo of both acupuncture and lymphatic drainage have really helped in controlling the inflammation.

So with all that being said, for me, I noticed that both lymphatic drainage and acupuncture combined has helped tremendously. Again, I can't emphasize enough how much I regret not having started both these methods sooner.