Can I continue to do facial exercises after a facelift? Are any muscles cut/changed in a way to prevent this?

Hi Bridget.
There is no harm in doing facial exercises after a facelift. A good facelift would usually involve some form of tightening/suspension the internal layer of the face (SMAS). This can sometimes result in some temporary weakness and asymmetry of the face. Doing facial exercises may in fact help this weakness of the facial nerve or muscles to recover. 
I would, however, give it at least 6 weeks after surgery to allow for complete healing before commencing any form of facial exercises.
All the very best in your recovery.
Dr Ray Goh

Hi Bridget.  There are no muscles cut in a facelift and the facial function should be normal afterwards. There is a very small chance of damage to the nerves which can produce some asymmetry in movement.CheersDamien

No muscles should be divided in a facelift and your face will move normally after the procedure.

Dear bridgetshiva,
Yes you can but it may result in swelling if it is too early after surgery. There are alterations in some of the muscles that would swell. It is best that you ask your surgeon for the good time to start any exercises. 

If you want to make your facelift lose its efficacy you will do facial exercises. The muscular activity will stretch the skin out.  think about it, people with very active emotive faces have more wrinkles. 

An interesting question! Most modern facelifts incorporate some re-positioning of the muscles of facial expression particularly the platysma muscle in the neck and lower face. In addition there is often some re-positioning of the suspensory ligaments that anchor the facial muscles and SMAS layer to the underlying facial bones. These re-positioned tissues are held in their new locations by relatively weak stitches that need to hold until sufficient scar tissue has formed to stabilize them sufficiently. It takes a couple of months for this scar tissue to get to full strength so you should avoid excessively vigorous facial movements until then. Normal day to day expression with talking and the usual non-verbal facial expressions that we all do are not a problem but deliberate intense facial muscle "workouts" are best avoided for a couple of months

 Hi, I have performed many facelifts for over 30 years and have performed many minimally, invasive SMAS facelifts.  Depending on how invasive the facelift is that you wind up undergoing it's best to allow 4-6 months for elevated tissues to fully heal.  After that, you can resume doing facial excercises. 
 Following my beauty principles, women look the most feminine, youthful and attractive with heart shaped faces.  Heart shaped faces have cheeks that are full and round in the front.  Cheek augmentation with a dermal filler or using cheek implants for a permanent enhancement will create full, round cheeks that will feminize the entire face.
 A weak chin creates an imbalance making the nose appear larger, the mid face top heavy and the lower face look short that de-emphasizes the lips and allows early formation of a double chin.  Chin augmentation using a chin implant will add projection to the chin creating harmony and balance to the lower face.   I have found that placement of a silastic chin implant, through a small curved incision under the chin (also allows excess skin removal) to be very safe, quick and highly effective.
 If you have "jowls” these are sagging facial tissues and the main indication for some form of a SMAS facelift.  The underlying SMAS layer, of the face, must be dissected, lifted, trimmed and re-sutured (not merely folded or suspended with threads or sutures that will not last).  The excess skin is then removed and the facelift incisions closed.
 My most popular SMAS facelift is the minimally invasive, short incision SMAS facelift that has all the benefits of more invasive facelifts (traditional, mid-face, deep plane, cheek lift and subperiosteal facelifts) but with these added benefits:
very small incisions and no incisions extend or are placed within the hair.
minimal tissue dissection = less bruising and swelling = rapid recovery ( several days instead of weeks or months with the more invasive type facelifts mentioned)
can be performed in 90 minutes or less, with or without general anesthesia
no incisions within the hair = no hair loss
excess fat can be removed from the face and neck
excess skin removed from the face and neck
cheeks, chin and jaw line can be augmented with dermal fillers (I prefer Restylane Lyft) or facial implants
most patients fly back home to parts all over the world in as little as 3 days post-op
I combine facial shaping with every facelift procedure.  When jowls are present, these should be done in concert and not alone or separately in order to create a naturally, more attractive face.
Hope this helps.

I am not sure what benefit you will gain by doing facial exercises, but I think after 6 to 8 weeks they should certainly be safe and satisfactory if you desire.  I would avoid efforts at strengthening and exercising your platysma muscle in the neck as this is a important component of a necklift procedure.  In that region we hope to eradicate muscle bands rather than strengthen them.  Best wishes,Jon A Perlman M.D., FACSDiplomate, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS)ABC-TV Extreme Makeover SurgeonBeverly Hills, CaliforniaIG: jonperlmanmd