The First 3 Days
Day 1
I was a bit nervous about the first turn. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was initiating the process of ripping my face in half. The experience turned out to be underwhelming. It took a few tries to get the wrench to latch onto the MSE, but once I had it I quite easily turned it. I felt the pressure from the turn immediately, but there was no real pain. I first felt pressure in my nasal cavity area, and for a few minutes that was all I felt.
After about a minute I started to have a headache, and I realized that maybe the pressure exerted by the MSE would take time to radiate through my skull. I started feeling more pressure inbetween my eyes and nose, like the pressure moved upwards. For a few minutes I had a tickly feeling in my nose, it was like I was on the verge of sneezing.
My right ear began to tingle after about a half hour or so. It was a very strong tingle, and it was not matched by the left ear. The maxilla joins the pterygoid buttress at the back, and then that goes back to the ear canal, so it makes sense. When I has worse TMJ issues my right ear tingled more, and my right TMJ had the pain and clicking, I think it was because I had a tendency to slightly hold my jaw to the left because my right maxilla seems to have an inward cant.
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It took an hour or so for tingling to happen on the left ear, which was a bit of a relief. My maxilla seems to have a bit of a cant on the right side, so it seems right that the right side is effected more. I also started having some pressure at the top of my mouth where SARPE cuts happen.
By about two hours in the new sensations had ended. There was general pain on my palate, but I feel like the pressure had time to slowly spread around my skull. The ear tingling was the only lopsided result, all other sensations were bilateral.
Day 2 and 3
The next two turns of the MSE were also underwhelming. The second time had a similar pattern of the pressure moving outwards, the third time barely had that. It’s like my skull has already had time to adapt. One new sensation that I had on the second day was a feeling of pressure right behind my front upper incisors. It was quite strong at times, I hope it is from my suture weakening. By day 3 I was able to reduce my pain meds, which was nice. I have never liked the effect they have on my mind. There were times on day 2 that I was blanking out when talking to my Mum.
Food is much less likely to get stuck in my MSE now that the screws are in, they prevent food from sliding under. The little arms that connect the bands to the expander can still trap food, and some foods get gummed up at the front of the expander still. I need to rinse my mouth out carefully after eating. The gums around one of my banded molars are still a bit sensitive, so I need to watch that. From what I can tell while flossing, there is a little 90 degree ledge at the top of the band that can trap food, so I need to floss there carefully.
