Before                                                                                        After

​Before Surgery: I have always been concerned about my large jaw since young and I always felt the need to hide my face behind my hair. I always felt self conscious whenever the wind blew my hair and exposed my large face. I have wanted to do surgery since a few years back as I want to regain my confidence and be able to try a variety of different hairstyles and not be afraid of exposing the sides of my face.

I chose EU as EU is an oral and maxillofacial clinic, hence I believe that the surgeons will be very knowledgeable about the bones and tissues of the face. As facial contouring is quite a big surgery, I want to find a clinic that is reputable and doctors that I can trust.

Day 1: I was discharged after staying 1 night at the hospital. Despite what I read online, my nose was fine and I did not experience nausea, luckily for me. It was hard to consume anything the day of the surgery and I only drank water. The day after the surgery, the nurse provided me with Newcare protein drink and I had that for breakfast. It was hard to drink as my face and lips were swollen and I had a sore throat and phlegm stuck in my throat as well. I can’t wait for the swelling to go down.

Day 2: I look even more swollen than yesterday. I just went for my laser session and was told not to wear the compression band today as I was getting really swollen. I really hope the swelling can go down quickly :/

Day 3: I just came back from another deswelling treatment at EU. I’m still quite swollen but I can close my lips after exerting some pressure now which is good because otherwise water always drips because I can’t close my mouth. I try walking at home too so hopefully I can deswell quickly.

Day 4: I visited EU today for another deswelling treatment. I was told that I had really bad swelling and to not wear the compression band. It was recommended that I go for light walks in order to reduce my swelling so I tried walking for about 3 hours today. I also removed the tapes on my face today and I felt like it was the first time I saw how my face looked like after the surgery. The rough corners of my face were gone and I am really curious of how my face will look like after the swelling has gone down.

Day 5: The swelling seems to have improved today, my lip size has gone down and my eyes doesn’t seem like it is swelling as much. I’m not sure if I should wear my band today as my swelling got better after not wearing my band yesterday so I’m only wearing it for half the day. I also took a 3h walk today, hope it helps with deswelling fast!

Day 6: I couldn’t really tell if the swelling has decreased but I can see that it did when I compared my pictures today with yesterday’s. I also went on a walk today to help with deswelling, hopefully I can deswell quickly. I am excited to remove my stitches at my hairline and get my laser treatment tomorrow!

Day 7: I was kind of disappointed to see that my swelling looks pretty much the same as compared to the night before. Hopefully the swelling will dissipate slowly throughout the day. I removed my stitches today (Dr Kim helped me remove them) and I was already closing my eyes awaiting for the pain but it didn’t come, it was painless. I also got my mouth disinfected. I’m looking forward to washing my face properly after I can remove the steri strips!

Day 8: I can tell that the bruising on my left cheek is becoming lighter, but it still looks swollen but I’m glad that is less swollen compared to yesterday. When I measured my weight, I even lost 3kgs. 1 more week till I can consume non-liquid food, I am excited!

Day 9: I’m excited just by looking at the right side of my face where the swelling has gone down. I’m eagerly waiting for the left side of my face to deswell! I can also talk and eat better now, I even had porridge this morning which I couldn’t eat a few days ago. My neck is also less sore and I can use my neck muscles to move myself up without supporting it with my hands.

Day 10: I still am really swollen on my left side and I’m getting worried since it’s already day 10. I haven’t been taking walks the past few days but I will be going to take a walk today to see if it helps. I really hope the swelling goes down quickly.

Day 11: My face looked pretty much the same, but I could smile better today and my face feels less stiff. I always feel hungry because of the liquid diet and I’m looking forward to eating more proper food already.

Day 12: Not much changes to my swelling but I can tell that the right side of my chin is getting sharper. Hopefully the left side of my face can quickly deswell too

Day 13: I think the swelling on my left side of the face is starting to go down after I place the pictures side my side which is a relief because it felt like the swelling has been staying the same the past few days. Both sides of my teeth can also bite down and touch each other today, which is something I couldn’t do yesterday. I’m looking forward to removing my stitches tomorrow and getting to eat soft foods.

Day 14: My face is still swollen but I can tell that the bruising and the swelling is slowly reducing as the days pass. The swelling at my eyes is almost gone too! I can’t believe it’s already 2 weeks since my surgery and I can’t wait to see how my face will look like after the swelling on the left side has gone down.

Day 15: I just got my stitches removed today! The first thing I did was to eat soft noodles haha! I’m glad that I can brush my teeth with toothpaste and eat soft foods now, previously I was afraid of eating anything that has semi-solids in it in case it got stuck on the stitches

Day 17: My bruising is getting better, and I think the swelling on the left side of my face is improving too. I can open my mouth wider now, but I still have to compress some foods in order for it to fit into my mouth. It feels good to be able to eat more foods now and also brush my teeth.

Day 18: The swelling and bruising is still going down really really slowly and I hope it goes away soon so I don’t have to hide it. I’m enjoying more foods nowadays so I’m glad!

Day 21: Time really flies! It has been 3 weeks since my surgery and I feel better everyday. My bruising is getting lighter and although my swelling is still worse on my left cheek compared to my right, I think that it is dissipating slowly. I can enjoy more foods now that my mouth can open wider than before. I measured and I can fit 2 fingers now. I can also brush my teeth easily now since that I can open my mouth wider.

Day 23: Comparing my photos, it feels like the swelling on my left cheek is going down slowly. My face still feels stiff but I can open my mouth wider but it does take practice. I can’t wait till I can eat meat, it’s been really long since I ate proper meat haha

Day 26: I can’t believe it’s almost a month already! Although my left cheek is still more swollen than my right, most of the bruising is gone! I can’t wait to see how I will look like when my face is more symmetrical!

Day 28: My swelling and bruising is still evident, but it is easy to conceal now. I also tried eating soft meat yesterday since its already been almost a month and I could. I was so good, it’s been long since I ate meat.

Day 29: I can tell my face getting smaller week by week, I’m excited to see how my face will look like after the swelling has gone down! The bruising on my neck is also almost gone now, just a bit of bruising left on my left cheek.

Day 31: I can’t believe its been a month since my surgery. Although my face feels stiff, I look a lot more natural now, on the “chubby” side since my cheeks are still swollen. I can’t wait for my face to recover and deswell.

Day 38: My bruising is going away slowly and its almost unnoticeable in this photo anymore! I can’t wait till it goes away so that I don’t have to apply concealer on it so often! My chin is also feeling better now (sensation wise), previously it feels tingly and swollen but it feels more normal now. I’m still waiting for my face to look more symmetrical so I can tie up my hair in public, it seems like time is passing slowly

Day 43: My face looks more natural in the photos and I feel like my side profile is looking better. I am in the midst of recovering and I recently feel like I have a slight toothache when I chew on food that are slightly “harder” like mushroom so I have been trying to eat very soft foods only. I hope I can quickly recover and get to eat what I used to be able to eat like biscuits and meat!

Day 52: Its almost going to be 2 months since my surgery. I am excited for the 3rd month to come since I think I should be able to eat more variety of foods by then. I still avoid meat like chicken or pork since my cheekbones tend to ache when I chew on something slightly harder. My face is a lot less stiff but I still have slight bruising but feeling less stiff is great as it feels like I am recovering!

Day 57: I feel like when I touch my jaw, it is back to how it was before surgery although I’m still not able to open my mouth as wide as before. I tend to end up eating noodles nowadays as its easy to chew and fit into my mouth. The bruising on the left side of my face is still there and I wonder when it will go away, and although its a lot less obvious that previously, the left side of my face is still bigger than the right side. I hope the swelling will go down quickly so I know how I will look like after surgery!!

Day 64: Can’t believe its been 2 months since my surgery. I think my face is recovering well, I feel more comfortable touching my jaw area when applying my face products (still not so much the cheekbone since it looks especially fragile). I can feel the difference between my left and right cheeks, it feels like the left side is recovering more quickly as I don’t feel as much sensations on that side anymore (almost feels back to normal). It feels good to be able to feel my recovery after what seems like a long time.

Day 71: My face still feels a little stiff but when I met a friend who I haven’t saw for 2 months said that I can speak more clearly now, which I’m really happy to hear. Although my friend said that I still look swollen when my hair isn’t covering my face. I do notice that my smile lines are deeper than before the surgery and I hope that it’s due to the swelling. I feel a lot more comfortable nowadays and I take it as a sign that I’m recovering well.

Can’t wait for it to finally feel like how it used to in the past.

Day 80: Can’t believe it’s 10 more days to 3 months after surgery. I really can’t wait to eat normally like before! I feel like my bruise has disappeared already and I can smile way more naturally now when I compare my smiling photos taken now and from a month ago. My left face seems slightly less swollen but still slightly larger than my right face. Waiting for both sides to become more symmetrical!

Day 86: I can eat way more foods now and I tried eating more soft meats nowadays too. I just had fried chicken yesterday, the first time after almost 3 months but I removed the fried batter in case it was too hard. I’m still getting used to my face without my square jaw as it feels like something I’ll only see when I turn on the face slimming effect on photo apps before surgery.

Day 94: Can’t believe how fast time flew! It’s already 3 months post surgery. I feel like my face is feeling a lot better since the beginning in terms of tightness but yesterday the tightness came back suddenly and I was quite worried, but luckily it went back to normal today. Supposedly I can go back to eating hard foods now that its been 3 months post surgery, but I feel like my face isn’t ready and I will try tougher foods slowly so that I won’t stress my face that much. Hopefully my face will go back to feeling like it used to before soon!!

Day 119: Time really flies its been almost 4 months post surgery. I feel more comfortable touching my face now (eg when I wash my face or apply face products) but there’s some parts that still feels a bit numb and tight. I can’t wait till all these sensations are gone and my face feels like normal! There are also more meats I can/am comfortable eating now for example chicken.

Day 15​0: I feel like my face is feeling a lot better these days, still some stiffness when I make certain facial movements but a lot better and I can move my face a lot more now without feeling stiff or uncomfortable. I can also eat chicken and soft meats without feeling much discomfort in my cheeks. I think the swelling has reduced quite a lot, and my friends can notice a slimmer and nicer side profile. The left side of my face is still slightly more swollen as my right side of my face and I’m hoping it will get more symmetrical over time.

Day 180: I can’t believe its been half a year since my surgery. Although my face still feels stiff, I am glad that I get to enjoy more foods now like chicken and biscuits that are not too hard. The area around my left eye is also less numb now. I’m looking forward to when my sensations are back to normal!

Day 209: I feel like I can eat even more foods now, and the sensations in my face is slowly returning to normal (perhaps 30% of numbness/stiffness left). The left side of my face still doesn’t seem symmetrical to the right as it is more angular while the right is more curved and I hope it will get more symmetrical over time. Can’t believe how fast time flies and I’m looking forward to being able to eat like normal again as I still avoid foods that are too tough or hard foods like nuts.

Day 240: Can’t believe its 8 months since my surgery. I am feeling more comfortable nowadays, I can run without feeling my face stiffen up but its still a tad bit stiff when I open my mouth. I feel like the area around my eye/cheekbone is slowly recovering as the scabs there are disappearing and it doesn’t feel as numb as before. Sometimes I hear my jaw clicking when I talk which I hope is temporary. My cheekbones sometimes feel “pulled” when I eat tough items so I try to avoid them so hopefully my sensations and eating habits can go back to how it used to be soon!

Day 271: Its been 9 months since my surgery and I can't wait till my face feels like how it was before surgery since I still feel some stiffness in my jaw, especially on the left side of my face. I still refrain from eating anything too hard like biscuits and tend to wait for them to slightly melt before biting on them as my cheekbones stung for a bit after I previously bit on tougher foods. The scabs around my cheekbone area are falling off as well as those near my ear, which is a sign that I’m slowly recovering. Hoping that I’ll recover quickly and be able to chew on hard foods again soon!

Day 302: I went for a followup the other day and I learnt that my bones are recovering well and the stiffness in my jaw will get better as I start using my jaw muscles. I’m really glad that everything is starting to feel more normal and that I am comfortable enough to start chewing on tougher meats or biscuits that aren’t too hard. The scabs around my ear are gone now as well and I’m glad the area is finally back to how it was pre surgery.

Day 330: Its been 11 months since my surgery! I feel so much better now, and am back to doing exercise and eating harder foods like biscuits and crackers, but I still try to avoid hard nuts like almonds as I’m not comfortable chewing on them yet. My sensations are slowly coming back to me, although the area around my cheekbones still feels a little tender but its not numb anymore. I will practice more chewing so that my jaw muscles get back to how they used to feel soon!

Day 361: Its been a year since my surgery and I’m mostly back to normal. I can eat whatever I want by now. My face still feels a tad bit stiff in certain expressions but it has gotten a lot better and I'm sure that it will continue to get better. I’m happy that there wasn’t any side effects such as sagging or numbness and I’m looking forward to feeling better!