Maxillofacial surgery would include any surgery of the face affecting the jaws bones: mandible and maxilla bone surgery (orthognathic, Le Fort etc.)
Maxillofacial Physiotherapy before the surgery: this could be done 1 or 2 months before the surgery and aims to check patient’s jaw (TMJ), tongue, neck function before the surgery. This could be use as a baseline which will be an important information to recover after the surgery. Also, physiotherapy treatment can be done to learn some exercises to improve what is not working properly before surgery but, also to learn what exercises to do straight after the surgery. This would help to ensure optimal recovery.
Maxillofacial Physiotherapy after the surgery: when to start will depends on surgeons’ agreement. It involves muscular retraining, lymphatic drainage, scar treatment, tongue and jaws exercises. The goals are recovery of the amplitudes of the jaw, tongue and neck and the swallowing. Usually, the patient will continue maintenance exercises at home once a day for 1 year.
