Crooked Smile After Mini Facelift and Chin Lipo

Question

My mom is 8 days post op for mini facelift (lower portion of face) and chin lipo...my issue is that her smile is crooked right now.  Is this permanent? I am very worried and am hoping this is common and will go away. the dr assured her that he did not cut any nerves. please advise as she is very depressed about it. thank u.  She never had a crooked smile before and I cant seem to find much about this.  If it is common, how long does it take to go away and is there anything she can do to improve?

Tanveer Janjua, MD · Answer

It can be very hard to handle this issue but tell your mom to hang in there. It keeps getting better every week and usually in six weeks it has improved significantly where other people do not notice it. She will continue to notice it longer as after surgery we tend to keep examining the site of surgery.
What if it is permanent?
In the rare case that it is permanent it can be balanced using botox and in rare cases certain surgeries are able to help a little as well.
What should your mom do?
1. Relax, relax, relax
2. Smile as much as possible and exercise facial muscles by moving lips especially lowe lip in all directions. Muscle activity helps speed the recover.
3. Take one day at a time.
4. Try to get back into her routine as fast as possible to help with emotional recovery.
Regards

Anand D. Patel, MD · Answer

Sometimes the nerve that controls the lower lip will have a "stretch" injury from the lift and cause a crooked smile. This is almost always temporary but may take weeks to months to resolve. A permanent injury usually only occurs if a nerve is cut, and this is exceedingly rare during a typical mini lift procedure.

David Hansen, MD · Answer

Reassurance is the best medicine for your mom after her mini lift/ chin liposuction since it resolves spontaneously in 6-12 weeks on its own in most cases.  Sincerely,

	David Hansen,MD

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

This is commonly associated with a nerve "bruise"  (neuropraxia) and commonly returns within 2-3 weeks. Occasionally this can last longer and rarely is it permanent.

Kamran Jafri, MD · Answer

Temporary nerve weakness after a Mini Lift or Face Lift while rare is one of the more common problems seen after surgery. It happens because the nerve which moves the lip gets pulled and stretched during surgery and as a result smiles can be crooked for a short period of time. In these cases it should be fully resolved by 3 weeks though sometimes can take longer. If needed oral steroids can help move the healing process along.

	Even rarer (thankfully) is if the nerve that moves the lip gets cut - this is permanent and difficult to manage. The good news is that nerve injury is far less common in Mini Lifts than in full face lifts. In your mother's case it is also good that her surgeon is comfortable that did this not happen.

	Give it some more time, follow closely with the surgeon and it appears that all will be well.

	Dr. J

Crooked Smile After Mini Facelift and Chin Lipo

Answers (10)