Cannot Blink After Facelift

Although it is hard to tell without examining you, what you are describing is possibly caused by injury to one of the branches of your facial nerve

He or she will want to know if you aren't blinking.  Temporary measures need to be taken NOW to protect your eye.  Later, it can be determined if you have a nerve bruise (palsy) or severance (paralysis).  But for now, get him on the line.  Taping it shut and lubricating gels are in order.

This may be due to mechanical or neurologic conditions. You should really seek the evaluation of your physician to determine the cause and institute measures to minimize the potential for exposure keratitis

It would appear that you have an injury to a branch of your facial nerve. This often resolves itself on its own if the nerve is just bruised and not cut. However, you need to see an Ophthalmologist as soon as possible to prevent injury to your eye from drying out. I would also suggest you see your surgeon and talk with him/her about this.

Inability to blink after Facelift is not a common or normal occurrence after Facelift.  The branches of the facial nerve responsible for blinking innervate the muscle in a very deep plane very close to the nose. Therefore, I am puzzled as to what happened. My recommendation is that you return to see your Surgeon for recommendations, reassurance, and possible solutions.

dear naimah from Damascus

According to your description after your face lift about 4 weeks ago your upper eye lid on the left side does not blink. This is injury to a branch of facial nerve. If the nerve was not cut during your face lift surgery and it was simply compressed, the function will return within 3 months. However if the branch was cut the function may take up ot a year to  return. Eye care and protection is very important at this time. Talk to your surgeon in this regard.

If you are unable to blink your facial nerve may have been injured or bruised.  This may or may not get better with time. Often eye drops and eye lubricants are recommended along with possibly an eye shield until the condition improves.

You should see an Ophthalmologist (eye doctor) immediately because if you can't blink, your eye can dry and cause serious and permanent damage to your cornea.  You should also see your plastic surgeon to let him know what happened.  

Dr. Cat Begovic M.D.

Thanks for your enquiry, I'm not exactly sure as to what you mean by your upper eyelid is not able to blink.

If you mean that you cannot close the eyelid properly making the eyelids meet this is definitely abnormal following a eyelid surgery procedure. If you cannot close your eyes you're in danger of causing damage to the eyeball itself as the function of the eyelid is to protect the eyeball when you are sleeping.

It maybe sensible to post a picture of the area on the realself forum and to give us a better idea of exactly what is occurring in your case.

I would need more information to be able to give you a more precise answer but I will try. First, did you have an upper eyelid surgery (Blepharoplasty) at the same time as the Facelift? if you did, maybe too much skin was removed but in that case you should be able to blink but not to close your eyelid entirely. 

If you only had a Facelift, then does your left forehead move, meaning are you able to raise your left eyebrow? if you cannot then it is possible that one of the branch of the facial nerve got stretched during the surgery and became weak (neurapraxia). Such event is rare but if it does happen it usually resolve in a few month. Your surgeon may decide to put you on steroid to decrease the inflammation and help speed up the recovery of the nerve. Meanwhile make sure you are using artificial tears during the day to moisten your eye and thick night eye drops.