Q: I had a face-lift and eyelid surgery last June. The left side of my face is fine. The inside of my right brow raises slightly. My right eyelid does not close when I try to blink. When looking straight and moving the eye downward, the lid will follow. I do not have any control of my right eye or brow when I hold down the left side and try to raise the right side. My mouth was drooped but has somewhat come back. My doctor said everything will be back to normal, but it might take a year. I'm freaking out.
A: You have every reason in the world to freak out, but what you have described to me indicates that you will probably be OK. The face moves because there is a facial nerve that connects your brain to the facial muscles that create both voluntary and involuntary movements. The fact that you describe such a large area of the face with loss of movement indicates to me that the main branch of your facial nerve is affected. While on the surface this seems bad, it is unlikely that your surgeon would have cut that part of the nerve during surgery.
The most probable cause of your facial weakness is swelling of your nerve by inflammation. In rare cases you could have Bell's palsy, which can occur independent of your surgery. Bell's palsy is an inflammation of the main branch of the facial nerve. Sometimes patients have problems during or after surgery, which they naturally attribute to their surgical procedure. Although in most cases there is a cause and effect, it is not always clear. I would think that by the time you read this response you will have already improved to a certain degree. You will likely continue to improve and completely resolve within a year. Otherwise, talk to your physician and/or seek a second opinion.
