Dentist Questions Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon

What helps pain after jaw surgery?

I will have jaw surgery. What helps pain after jaw surgery?

4 Answers

Ice for the first few days as well as staying on top of your pain meds. I truly believe that the combination (COMBO) of Ibuprofen (600mg) AND Tylenol (650mg) taken every 6 hours works amazingly well. In some cases I will also prescribe a very small amount (12 tabs) of Norco (10/325) for BREAKTHROUGH pain ONLY. For example: let's say your surgery is this Monday and your surgeon discharges you on Tuesday morning around 9 am, but you got some pain meds (a COMBO perhaps) around 6 am. You could then take another combo at noon, 6 pm and midnight. If you are young with good kidney function, you could take that last dose around 11 pm. For Breakthrough pain, you would take a Norco at 3 pm and 9 pm and one more if you wake up in the middle of the night in pain (but this is rare), say at about 2 am or so. Keep in mind that if you plan to drive a motor vehicle or operate ANY heavy machinery, you cannot take Norco within 6 hours of operation (ie if driving before 8 am, you can't take that 2 am dose). I hope this helps answer your question and my apologies for not getting to this question sooner. Dr Bronk
Ibuprophen, opiate analgesics, steroids
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Strong Pain relief and ice bags that reduce the temperature that might initiate from P O pain or infection or etc
The answer to the question regarding pain relief following jaw surgery may be dependent upon several things. Specific surgery performed, as there are a number of procedures that are categorized under jaw surgery Individual tolerances and perception of pain. Depending upon the surgery performed as well as the surgeon performing the surgery there are a number of different options for controlling pain following surgery. The best advice would be to consult with the surgeon performing the surgery for recommendations.