I have a facial nerve injury post face lift. Is it reversible?

You
definitely need to see your doctor for this.If there is a nerve injury it’s
better to recognize and address it early.If you wait too long it may be
irreversible. Weakness and numbness can happen early on with a facelift, but
usually subsides within a few weeks. Surgeons have the ability to do a nerve
study, which can identify any issues. If the nerve is injured due to
stretching, then it may be reversible, but if it was cut, it may not be
reversible without surgical repair.

I am sorry to hear that you have experience this unfortunate complication. You should definitely see your surgeon for an examination and discuss treatment options based on examination.

Dear
wxwv2000,I am
very sorry to hear about the challenges that you are going through. Facial
nerve injury is a very rare event in facelift surgery and the consequences are
both physically and emotionally tough for all affected people. The prognosis of
your recovery is directly related to the particular nature and extent of the
injury, the resulting functional compromise, and viability of the remaining
facial nerve segments. These factors, when taken together, allow one to forecast
your recovery and review any therapeutic options that may, or may not, be
necessary. It is helpful to know that the injury was within the last year. It is
also important that your eye closure on the affected side is intact and to have
any exposure addressed so as to prevent any symptoms related to eye exposure
which can lead to eye injury. A general principle in treatment of facial
paralysis is the allowance for the surviving facial nerve to have the
opportunity to reinnervate the facial musculature. EMG (electromyography) is a
gold standard method in assessing facial muscle nerve innervation and is
standardly performed in all patients who have a facial nerve paralysis of 12
months or greater. Light facial massage in the regions of injury help to
stimulate nerve reinnervation to the given region. Hopefully this is helpful to
you and I hope you are doing well.My best,James
Ridgway, MD, FACS

Facial nerve weakness is a rare but the ne'er standby distressing complication from a facelift.  The good news is that 80 percent of facial nerve problems after facelift will resolve on their own, but could take up to one year.

Nerve damage is reversible if the nerve is only stretched and not cut.  In this case, the injury is called neuropraxia and nerve function usually returns by 3 months time.  If the nerve is cut, the injury is called axonotmesis and recovery of function may not return.  The loss of brow function suggests injury to your temporal branch.  If it has returned, the injury was only a neuropraxia.  If your brow function has returned, yet you are unable to close your eye fully, an orbital branch of the temporal nerve was injured or the zygomatic branch of the facial nerve was injured.  There are multiple nerve branches to the orbicularis muscle that makes the eye close and many times these multiple branches compensate for the loss of a few injured branches.  At 5 months, it may be a consideration to undergo a canthopexy to correct the lateral lower lid lag you are experiencing.