Posted by jvan31 on July 01, 2008 at 14:39:48:In Reply to: Considering MMA-- Question posted by EDomain on June 30, 2008 at 21:55:53:
To echo a lot of things that have already been said, it does not
take a year to get back doing activities. As soon as I got my
arch bars off (4-5 weeks post surgery), my doc told me I could
start exercising again, starting with 10% my previous workload
(ie, if i was doing 100 situps, do 10). For a few weeks, I had
some pain in my jaw when I would do cardio (eg, elliptical).I am sort of in the same body-type category as you, but not as
tall. I was about 20 lbs above my ideal weight, so we are sort of
atypical apnea folks.My chin was not recessed prior to the surgery. I was 25 when I
had the procedure and was very concerned about my looks
following surgery (vain, yes, but honest). It took me longer to
get used to the way I look (I still look weird to myself in
pictures) than it did my friends. Others, have said that the
stronger jawline makes me look more masculine. (I will let you
all judge for yourself--I am working on my own blog to help
others considering this surgery, just as I was helped).If you're considering MMA, definitely find the best surgeon you
can (b/c of my experience, I'm partial to those on the West
Coast) but I know others on here have had good results with
surgeons elsewhere around the U.S and Canada. Then have
sleep studies done again to see where you're at (the surgeon
would almost certainly have you do them anyway).As for talking post-mma, it was a week or two before I could
talk "comfortably". For me, it was about 2 months before I had a
pretty decent range of motion, but was talking well and without
too much fatigue after about 3-4 weeks.I wish you all the best in your search for a good night's sleep.
JRV