Day 54: Patience and my Profile . . .

I mentioned in my last post about my profile and the comparison with 16 months ago when the Orthodontic work started. I have attached a picture on the left showing three timeframes; 16 months ago, the day before surgery, and then finally a photo taken at day 52 post-surgery.

Truthfully, I have to say that I am not liking my profile at all presently; I think it looks incredibly flat and also my jaw sticks out a lot compared with how it used to be. I look like I have a boxers face from the 1970's :)

My jaw used to stick out but only because I sub-consciously projected it forward so as not to leave it in its default, recessed, position that you can see in the far left picture. I find myself therefore comparing my jaw position, not with the picture from 16 months ago, but rather with pictures where I was projecting my jaw forward, and in comparison with the day 52 picture, I am not liking it.

Now of course I recognise that the way my side profile looks now will not be the way I look in 18 months or so but patience in terms of getting and feeling better has never been a favourable character trait of mine :)

Facial Swelling affects the way your face looks and I know that my profile will change as the swelling decreases over the next year or so. Everything from my lips, cheeks, nose, forehead, is affected by the swelling but truthfully I have never been a great visualiser and so I find it difficult to project what I will look like next year!

Plus, as my wife says, we are talking about my side profile here and so does it really matter as how many times does a person look at their side profile! Good point :)

Changing the perspective from my side profile to how I look when see my face in the mirror: If you ignore my chipmunk cheeks, the non-existent smile due to the swelling, and the consequent freaky smile, I actually like the way I look in comparison!

My face is fuller, certainly but I can at least see my bottom teeth when I attempt to smile and my chin seems more balanced in terms of perspective! So you see, I do have a positive attitude about all of this, I just wish that I like my side profile more than I do. However, as I have said, I will like it, I just have to wait 18 months to do so! :)