Corrective jaw surgery tomorrow --- can't workout for 2 weeks.

[plornive]

I talked to the sugeon today and I will need to go through with my jaw surgery tomorrow morning. I will be on a liquid diet for a week and soft foods for at least a month. I had a few high calorie high carb meals today to fill my glycogen.

What will happen in two weeks if I follow a maintenance diet? Will I lose muscle mass? I don't think I will lose muscle mass in the first week, but how about the second? I won't really be sedentary --- I'll be walking around and that sort of thing. Anyone have any ideas? Should I run a caloric deficit through my recovery even though I won't be lifting? I'm not planning on it, unless someone informs me otherwise. Thanks.

 

[Vageta]

I definately wouldn't diet for those 2 weeks. I think if you just eat to maintain you won't lose much if any mass in that short time period but if you try to diet you'll lose some muscle. I had surgery and had to be out of the gym for a week or two and I was fine. Is your jaw going to be wired shut? If not you may try taking a small dose of your anavar for those 2 weeks to prevent catabolism. 1 10mg pill in the morning should be fine.

 

[plornive]

Thanks, but I don't have any anavar! I will take your advice on simply maintaining, though. I'm gonna blend a lot of oats, tofu, peanut butter and olive oil. I will probably get really sick of it.

The surgeon says he is pretty sure I will not be wired shut, just have rubber bands. The upper jaw will be moved forward 3-4 mm.

He gave me a can of "Ensure": Water, corn syrup, maltodextrin, sodium and calcium casein, sugar (sucrose), canola oil, soy protein isolate, ... "Doctor recommended!"... right! Some nutritionists are supposed to talk to me in the hospital after the surgery.

 

[Cuts]

Why are you having jaw surgery did you get punched or what?
Anyway, I don't see why you can't eat regular most regular foods during those two weeks. You can blend most stuff up with water... granted it won't taste too good that way but who cares--you want to maintain. Meal replacements like Myoplex with milk are another option. I'm sure there's tons of different combinations you could come up with. Oh yeah, and why can't you workout? How does recovering from jaw surgery prevent you from working out?

 

[Vageta]

Sorry plorn, got you mixed up with another guy who was running an anavar cycle. Just make sure you get plenty of protein through MRP's or protein shakes because it's hard getting it through other liquid meals. If you get sufficient protein and eat maintenance calories you shouldn't lose much if any muscle in that short period.

 

[plornive]

Why are you having jaw surgery did you get punched or what?

I have a slight underbite. People that have known me all my life ask me why I am having surgery and are surprised that I have a 3-4 mm unerbite. The orthdontist recommends it, so I figure I will get it over with and save myself from tooth chipping and possible jaw problems.

Oh yeah, and why can't you workout? How does recovering from jaw surgery prevent you from working out?

For the first week at least, I will have some stitches and swelling in my mouth. I don't want to raise my bp slightly and bleed. The bone is held together by metal pieces and during the first weeks of recovery it is important not to put pressure on it. After the stitches are removed on the 6th day I might give weights a try after a few days.

 

[Cuts]

Got it... in that case, definitely do take the time to let it all heal properly before hitting the weights again. You know a couple times when I was forced to take layoffs from the gym for a week or two, as long as I ate right, I often came back stronger than before! I think your body just might need some time off. Oh yeah, have you every thought about super-compensation training the last week before your surgery? I think that might actually work really well in your situation. Good luck with it!

 

[plornive]

Well, the surgery went well. I now officially look like Don Corleone because of my puffy swollen cheeks. Even my eye sockets are numb and kind of swollen.

They were putting cortisol into my IV about every 4 hours, and they were pumping me full of morphine until I told them to stop. I asked them to continue with the anti-inflammatories and I also figured some cortisol would improve my recovery time and help me in the long run.

Overall, this is not fun at all. Can't wait to completely recover. I would not feel safe weight-training when my upper jaw bone is being held onto me with metal pieces.

Does anyone know exactly what cortisol does in a case like this?

 

[plornive]

Oh yeah, have you every thought about super-compensation training the last week before your surgery? I think that might actually work really well in your situation. Good luck with it!

What is super-compensation training? Too late now, but is it just lifing really hard and frequently and basically overtraining for a week?

 

[gymtime]

Dude, you just had jaw surgery. Now's not the time to be worrying about losing muscle. Given the diet you'll have to be on for a while, I'd be amazed if you didn't lose some. MRPs are a help, but they are still liquid and fast absorbing, no substitute for the real thing.

You will lose some weight. It's not the end of the world. Eat as well as you can until you're back on solid food. Once you are, the weight will come back in no time.

 

[Cuts]

What is super-compensation training? Too late now, but is it just lifing really hard and frequently and basically overtraining for a week?

Yeah that's basically it in a nutshell. You just workout splitting your body into 2 workouts alternating everyday for a week or so. Then you take a [well deserved] week off and eat right. I've read that a lot of people use this technique to break through plateus.

By the way, I think them using coritisol in this case was again just for it's very potent anti-inflammatory properties. Good luck with your recovery!

 

[plornive]

Thanks for the replies. I am recovering well so far. I'm more confident I won't lose much from this fiasco. I now have titanium plates permanently in my upper jaw that the bone will grow around.

OK, I am wondering what my jaw surgery does to my protein and calcium requirements. I am currently taking about 2 times the RDA of calcium in milk and other foods. My protein intake is about 200g. I'm around 160-165 (varies). Should I increase protein even more because of all of the tissue repair? I'm eating about maintenance calories.

 

[Cuts]

I'm not expert here, but I doubt that the [relatively] small amount of tissue trauma that occured from the surgery warrants actually upping your protein requirements. I suppose upping Calcium can't do any harm. By the way, nice Avatar... welcome to the 500 club! later

 

[Anatomywiz]

Hey dude-good luck with the recovery! The cortisol will keep down tissue swelling which will help you to heal faster. It will also strip needed aminos(mostly L-glutamine, the most anti-catabolic amino you can take) from your muscle to free them up to repair any tissue damage in your body-in your case your jaw muscles. Don't dispair-your already taking a huge dose of protein for someone who is taking a break from training, so you should be fine. As far as muscle loss goes, it should be extremely minimal, if at all. Studies show that a one month lay-off only decreases 1-rep max around 1-2%. However muscle endurence starts to go to shit after a week/10 days of detraining. Which means that when you get back the first couple of sets will go fine, then your reps will be less on the sets afterwards. Don't worry, hell it seems to me that everytime I take a week break I set all new personal records my second week back.

 

[wizzbone]

Hey man, I've gone through the same operation and am about 1.5 months post-op and am desperate to train as I have stopped all together. My doctor says that I'm not allowed to train for 6 months total so 4.5 months left due to the pressure it puts on the jaw. So i have pretty much accepted my fate. He also says that I'm not allowed to play other sports such as soccer for the risk of contact with my jaw, but ive been playing anyway.. The way I'm seeing it is i cant avoid the pressure from the weights but i can avoid body/ball contact to an extent..

But I have now come across your post and am extremely curious as to how you were allowed to train 2 weeks post-op and if there were any differences between your situation and mine.

I know I am a more than decade late to your post but hopefully you still frequent this site and post a reply.

Cheers!