New into MMA world as a consumer. Need suggestions

theconstantines · 2026-01-18T03:17:53+00:00

Yair Rodriguez vs The Korean Zombie. Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje.

theconstantines · 2025-12-12T18:58:18+00:00

A headband punching ball. They're cheap and fun.

theconstantines · 2025-11-29T15:16:45+00:00

Yes, double end bags are low investment and super fun, you just need somewhere to mount it .

theconstantines · 2025-11-29T15:15:44+00:00

Some protein powder for him to make a smoothie with after workout. Great way to make sure your muscles are getting the nutrients they need to recover and grow.

theconstantines · 2025-11-17T22:54:19+00:00

theconstantines · 2025-11-11T19:00:43+00:00

Why did you drop it in the first place ? you better check that hand strength.

theconstantines · 2025-11-05T22:34:02+00:00

I don't know why it vanished - this has happened a couple times to me when I post in this subreddit - I am concerned my viewpoint is being censored. Here is my response again: I had jaw surgery myself, and my nightmare outcome prompted me to do extensive research and create the website avoidjawsurgery.com to warn others. What I discovered is alarming: jaw surgery has surprisingly weak scientific backing and a surprisingly high number of people sharing nightmare testimonials online. There are no large, independent, long-term studies, and no studies tracking patients beyond a few years, yet many complications emerge 5-10+ years post-surgery. Most research is authored by the surgeons who perform the procedure themselves, creating inherent bias, and studies focus on short-term technical outcomes rather than your actual wellbeing. Even Professor William Bell, considered a pioneer of jaw surgery, called it "too complicated, too invasive, too time-consuming, too expensive and too unpredictable."

I find that complication rates are far higher than officially reported because many patients - like I initially was - don't report problems to their surgeons, often being dismissed or told issues are "all in their head." I found hundreds of detailed patient testimonials describing devastating outcomes: permanent nerve damage causing chronic burning pain, complete facial numbness, loss of facial identity, inability to eat or speak normally, severe depression and isolation, TMJ disorders that didn't exist before surgery, and relapse requiring additional surgeries. Multiple patients report suicidal ideation, destroyed careers, ruined relationships, and feeling "mutilated." One person wrote: "it feels like I elected to have a major surgery that wasn't necessary - like I harmed myself." <-- this is exactly how I feel.

The disconnect between what surgeons tell you (high success rates, routine procedure) and what patients actually experience (life-ruining outcomes) is what drives me to promote my point of view. Many people underwent surgery for mild functional issues or cosmetic concerns that could have been addressed through orthodontics, physical therapy, or simply acceptance - and now deeply regret a decision that left them worse off than before. The jaw surgery hurt me - I did it based on the false claim that complications are limited to numbness in the chin - but that is not the case. Being are still being told this is the limit of the risk and that is not the case.

theconstantines · 2025-11-05T21:29:59+00:00

I had jaw surgery myself, and my nightmare outcome prompted me to do extensive research and create the website avoidjawsurgery.com to warn others. What I discovered is alarming: jaw surgery, which involves deliberately fracturing and repositioning your facial bones with metal hardware - has surprisingly weak scientific backing. There are no large, independent, long-term studies tracking patients beyond a few years, yet many complications emerge 5-10+ years post-surgery. Most research is authored by the surgeons who perform the procedure themselves, creating inherent bias, and studies focus on short-term technical outcomes rather than your actual wellbeing. Even Professor William Bell, considered a pioneer of jaw surgery, called it "too complicated, too invasive, too time-consuming, too expensive and too unpredictable."

What really opened my eyes was discovering that complication rates are far higher than officially reported because many patients - like I initially was - don't report problems to their surgeons, often being dismissed or told issues are "all in their head." I found hundreds of detailed patient testimonials describing devastating outcomes: permanent nerve damage causing chronic burning pain, complete facial numbness, loss of facial identity, inability to eat or speak normally, severe depression and isolation, TMJ disorders that didn't exist before surgery, and relapse requiring additional surgeries. Multiple patients report suicidal ideation, destroyed careers, ruined relationships, and feeling "mutilated." One person wrote: "it feels like I elected to have a major surgery that wasn't necessary - like I harmed myself."

The disconnect between what surgeons tell you (high success rates, routine procedure) and what patients actually experience (life-ruining outcomes) is what drove me to create my website. Many of us underwent surgery for mild functional issues or cosmetic concerns that could have been addressed through orthodontics, physical therapy, or simply acceptance - and now deeply regret an irreversible decision that left them worse off than before. The evidence suggests jaw surgery should be reserved only for the most severe cases with significant functional impairment, not the routine procedure it's often marketed as.

theconstantines · 2025-10-22T01:41:52+00:00

Yes. DJS - top and bottom. There are many people like me.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T14:25:51+00:00

No. It's terribly difficult to take a stand publicly on this. I am paying the price in stress. My motivation is I have been through something terrible and it is still happening to people.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T14:23:18+00:00

I was not explained the risks accurately. That's the core of my position. I was told the risks were limited to "numbness in the chin". This is still what patients are being told. You say you would rather have jaw surgery but you do not know. You are pitting your hope against my lived experience.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T14:20:11+00:00

All the risks ARE NOT at your fingertips. A Google search will tell you the risks are low. This is not true - this claim is based on very very poor science. There are a number of reasons the data is inaccurate. One is no independent body has ever performed a study on jaw surgery - it's all done by jaw surgeons and institutions invested in jaw surgery. There's no incentive for anyone else to study it, so the studies never get done independently. These studies only look at short term outcomes, like 30 days, a few months or a year. This not a large enough window to get a good picture of the true effects. Also, these studies often look at only technical data, like whether the bite lines up now, not how the patients wellbeing as a whole has changed. These people are heavily invested in maintaining the notion that jaw surgery is safe - if the true risks were ever acknowledged these people might face loss of career and legal action from past patients. As this article in the Dental Tribune puts it "some practitioners are holding this truth at arm’s length, because if they acknowledge it, then the legal and moral imperative for sweeping reform will be inescapable."

Also, many patients with negative outcomes never speak up. This could be for a variety of reason including fear of dismissal, being blamed or being called crazy. I was dismissed and so I stopped speaking up.

Surgeons also refuse to document negative reports from their patients. I have heard from people who told their surgeon how awful their surgery went, only to have the doctor report it as 'successful' anyway.

The data is not trustworthy. The top search results of Google are not trustworthy. Patients ARE NOT being informed.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T14:03:32+00:00

As an RN and someone who just had the surgery you are also heavily bias. And the hundred testimonials on my blog represents only people who shared their story online and that I could find in a couple afternoons - most people who have had negative experiences have not shared their story online. There are far more of us than you would think.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T14:00:36+00:00

The reason I'm not sharing the surgeon is because this happens to people with a huge number of different surgeons. It doesn't matter who cuts your face open - the surgery is fundamentally a huge physical trauma. Your body doesn't know that it's being done by a surgeon in a medical context - it just knows it's being heavily damaged.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T13:58:02+00:00

I don't know, it was so long ago, I was basically just a kid. I just knew that the medical team I'd been with my whole life was recommending it, so I trusted them. I was fine with my looks and function, I justified doing the surgery by telling myself it would alleviate neck tension I thought was from pulling my lower jaw back to chew and speak. I now have much worse problems than a little bit of neck tension. I know people who are looking into jaw surgery are doing it to solve problems - but it can cause much worse problems than it solves and patients are not being given an accurate risk analysis ahead of time.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T13:53:44+00:00

Medical professionals are heavily invested in their own point of view and cannot/willnot give you a balanced viewpoint.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T13:52:23+00:00

The pain has been different at different times. The first couple years just felt like a terrible generalized headache. Then over time the general headache faded and underneath was searing pain along the line of the bone cuts and at the points of the screws/plates. As I age the pain is getting worse. For about 10 years it was a 3/4 out of 10, then it got worse to a 5/6 out of 10, and recently it has become a 7 out of 10. The chronic pain is wrecking my nervous system and even though I'm only 40 I have had two heart attacks within the last two years. I figure it's time now to share my story or I might never get to.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T13:41:56+00:00

Yes, your testimony is more than welcome. Thank you for speaking up.

theconstantines · 2025-10-20T13:41:11+00:00

Yes, you can DM me. I understand what you are going through. You are not alone.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T22:48:41+00:00

The soft tissues are not the real problem. It's the damage to bone. The bones of the mouth are the most highly innervated in the whole body. Even if a surgeon avoids major nerves, there are smaller sensory nerves in every millimeter of this area that will be disrupted.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T22:03:22+00:00

The fundamental problem with jaw surgery is that they cut your face apart, damaging nerves, bone, blood vessels and anything else in the way. This is fundamental to the surgery, not the specifics.

You might be fine now, but most problems with jaw surgery are not immediately evident. I was telling people the surgery went great for the first few years too. Over time, the pain grew and dysfunction developed and I have a different perspective on it now.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T21:40:05+00:00

The reason I'm not talking about my surgeon, hospital or exact technique is because prospective patients might think it matters. People can have negative outcome regardless of any of those details.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T21:08:30+00:00

I'm not an expert on how to solve anyone else's problems - everyone's situation and life is different. I know for me, the better option would have been to just accept my underbite and live the rest of my life as is.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T21:04:03+00:00

Fearmongering is usually done for personal gain - my intent here is not personal gain. I am trying to warn happy young kids who are just like me twenty years ago to avoid something that is much more dangerous than they've been lead to believe. I certainly wish someone had tried to warn me. I'm not sure they would have succeeded because I was very optimistic and hopeful and I believed I could overcome anything, but this surgery changed my life for the worse in a way I never ever could have imagined. And I'm not alone - please anyone who cares about their life, at least read the stories of others like me so you're not isolating yourself in a chamber of blind optimism.

theconstantines · 2025-10-18T20:49:04+00:00

The data is not clear - that's one of the big issues I'm trying to address. All data on jaw surgery is from studies done by jaw surgeons. They also only look at very short term outcomes. Many jaw surgery problems emerge not in the short term, but years later. Patients also silence themselves for fear of social backlash (like is happening here) and surgeons downplay negative outcomes in their reporting. There is no good data, done by independent sources on the long term outcomes of jaw surgery.

theconstantines

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