Joef, I am only 3 weeks out and my paralysis was late, not appearing until day 12, but my pucker and lip sag were the most obvious problems right at first. I invented the following exercise to firm up my lip. I pressed my lips together as much as I could, holding my finger tips over any leaks. Then I blew out hard to puff out both cheeks, over and over again, Each time I practiced this I'd get a stretching sensation in my lips, cheeks and chin. After a couple of days I could feel firming tension in my loose lip and I was more able to drink without spilling out the corner. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't blowing so hard that my ears could pop, just enough to get a blowfish look. Hold a few seconds and release, hold and release.ÂÂ
Just this last week I saw an eye doctor to have my cornea inspected. It was fine, but she taught me an exercise to make the eyes tear better. She uses this therapy with Bells Palsy patients...scrunch up your nose and squint your eyes closed really tight. If you have any pucker add this to the scrunch. Scrunch, count four and release, scrunch, count and release.ÂÂ
Note: Doing facial exercises before the waiting period is over can be detrimental to the expression. So, if you have facial issues that are less than 9 or 10 month old continue to wait for the nerves to recover on their own.
