Sharon Osbourne is very happy with the results of her recent facelift—but the procedure wasn’t free of complications. The TV personality and cohost of The Talk recently appeared on the The Kelly Clarkson Show and admitted that a rare side effect occurred after her surgery this past summer.
“I had this thing where they lifted up my mouth and then, for the first week, I couldn’t feel my mouth. I can hardly feel my mouth now, to be honest with you,” Osbourne laughed.
She went on, telling Clarkson about her newfound snarl and her family’s reaction to it. “I couldn’t find my mouth. It was numb and it was up on one side and I looked like Elvis. All the kids and Ozzy are going, ‘Why are you snarling at me?’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not snarling, I’m not doing anything!’”
Osbourne’s facelift involved multiple incisions, including work around her neck and jowls. “[My surgeon] kind of pulled it from the top of my head and put an elastic band in it. But everything was just lifted up, so it looks more refreshed,” she said.
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The segment was taped five weeks post-surgery, and while it’s common to experience temporary numbness around the mouth post-facelift, Dr. Dilip Madnani, a plastic surgeon in New York City, says it’s unusual to lose sensation for as long as Osbourne did. “It’s common to have temporary numbness around the mouth for a few hours while the local anesthesia is in, but it’s rare for there to be anything permanent,” he says. “I am not sure why [Osbourne] said she couldn’t feel her mouth for a long time after surgery—that may have been associated with nerve damage that has resolved.”
Unfortunately, permanent nerve damage is a possible side effect of facelifts. But if you do lose feeling after a facelift, Dr. Madnani says, it’s usually just around the ears, never the entire face. “This is because the nerve that runs along the side of the face, the greater auricular nerve [which provides sensation around and in the ear] is within the area where we elevate the skin and muscles for the facelift,” he says. “So it’s always a possibility. However, it should be in the 1% range.” Tampa, Florida, plastic surgeon Dr. Jaime Perez also noted in a RealSelf Q&A that “facial nerve palsy and facial muscle weakness following a facelift are almost always temporary, with full recovery by three to six months [afterward].”
Osbourne was laughing when she told Clarkson that she still can’t feel her mouth weeks post-surgery, so it’s hard to tell how serious she was about the extent of the complication. Considering the surgery had occurred just five weeks prior and that full recovery usually happens about three to six months afterward, it’s certainly possible that Osbourne’s mouth might still be feeling a bit numb; we’re just glad she’s able to joke through her recovery.
