4 weeks post sliding genioplasty - Easy recovery, subtle but impactful change

Dr. Osborn and his whole team at CMF are amazing and it really is something that makes them stand out from other surgeons. They are great at communicating and following up, which sadly is highly unusual for doctors. I was able to get a few appointments so I could have all my questions answered, and they are very accessible after surgery too for any questions or concerns. I was extremely nervous for surgery (sliding genioplasty) for so many reasons: IV sedation, the fact that bone was getting cut, what I was going to look like, whether healing would be absolutely miserable. I saw so many people online who said healing was terrible, they were so swollen and uncomfortable and were on a liquid diet for two weeks, etc. If you are Dr. Osborn's patient, this will not be your experience. In fact, one of the things that made me feel a little more comfortable was that I was able to talk to some of his past patients (on Reddit) and everything they described gave me a ton of reassurance. It also helped to keep in mind how experienced Dr. Osborn is. Compared to some surgeons who may be performing a SG once a month, he is doing them (or jaw surgery) twice a week or more.

The day of surgery I was so scared, but everyone in the office was so welcoming and understanding. I had no nausea waking up from sedation, and this is definitely due to the amount of care and attention to detail that Dr. Osborn puts into his work - not only is he skilled and experienced, which means shorter operating time, which means easier healing, but he took a lot of measures to prevent nausea. The pre-op packet they give you is also very detailed and my recovery was basically what was described in there exactly. I experienced some clicking, which went away after a couple weeks. Swelling peaked on day 3/4 right on schedule. I would encourage you to take some photos right after waking up (I did this, and Arianna helped me take a few more since I was still a little out of it) so that if swelling starts to freak you out and make you worry about what you'll look like, you have the pictures to look back on and remember what the final result will be. Looking back at them I can see I actually do have some residual swelling, but nothing that is noticeable to anyone else. I was out with friends and back to taking in-person work meetings at a week and a half post op.

They tell you to work up to food as you feel comfortable; I was eating pasta by day 2 (very slowly). Meaning I was on liquids only the day of surgery. By the end of week 1, I was comfortably eating most things, and by week 2, I was pretty much back to eating whatever I wanted.

Another thing people are often afraid of is numbness. I don't know what kind of magic Dr. Osborn does, but neither my chin nor my lip are numb. My front teeth are numb, but I was warned about that in advance so I knew what to expect. Pain-wise, the day of surgery I was pretty sore, but I was off prescription pain medication after day 1.

The thing that I keep saying is that this recovery was ten times easier than recovering from getting my wisdom teeth taken out. In fact, I actually found the week quite relaxing as I took off work and spent my time feeling comfortable and on the couch just watching TV. I feel kind of silly for being so nervous. You won't go wrong with Dr. Osborn and his wonderful staff.