My smile is crooked and it has been 23 days post face and neck lift etc. None of the other patients where I was had this happen and they all had face and neck lifts. I can only see a mild improvement in the last couple weeks. Pic one is from about 6 days post op,,pic 2 is today. What is the cause and how long until it gets better? Thanks so much for your help>
September 10, 2013
Answer: Hello Terrora
I agree that your loss of full muscle action in your left lower lip does appear to be improving and most likely will continue to improve back to normal. This does occur from some trauma to the branches of the facial motor nerve that exist near your lateral chin during surgery. This was probably some blunt trauma from a liposuction cannula or retractor and if so, the nerve is only temporarily hurt. Until full function is restored, you can consider having someone carefully Botox the musculature on your right side.
Best of luck.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
September 10, 2013
Answer: Hello Terrora
I agree that your loss of full muscle action in your left lower lip does appear to be improving and most likely will continue to improve back to normal. This does occur from some trauma to the branches of the facial motor nerve that exist near your lateral chin during surgery. This was probably some blunt trauma from a liposuction cannula or retractor and if so, the nerve is only temporarily hurt. Until full function is restored, you can consider having someone carefully Botox the musculature on your right side.
Best of luck.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
January 15, 2019
Answer: Crooked smile after facelift
The reason your smile is off is because the marginal nerve, a branch of the facial nerve has been traumatized. At 23 days, it's difficult to know if this was a partial injury (if this is the case, the function should return) or a complete injury (if this is the case, function will not return). You should ask your PS if anything unusual happened during surgery.There are nerve tests that can be done to help determine if the injury is complete or not. Consult with a neuro-otologist.
Helpful 3 people found this helpful
January 15, 2019
Answer: Crooked smile after facelift
The reason your smile is off is because the marginal nerve, a branch of the facial nerve has been traumatized. At 23 days, it's difficult to know if this was a partial injury (if this is the case, the function should return) or a complete injury (if this is the case, function will not return). You should ask your PS if anything unusual happened during surgery.There are nerve tests that can be done to help determine if the injury is complete or not. Consult with a neuro-otologist.
Helpful 3 people found this helpful