Does Exercise help regain facial movement

[cassie]

I have a question. I am 6 months post op with left side facial paralysis. My doctor says he expects me to recover facial movement, but he keeps extending the date and now I am wondering if my face will ever come back. I am recovering nicely in all other areas, but this facial paralysis is making me depressed and discouraged. My eye wont close so I recently had a weight put in, but it still doesn't close all the way or look right. People stare at me wherever I go and I am so sick of that "look" they give me.

I am back at the gym 3X a week, despite the "looks" and questions fellow cardio class members have. My question is: I feel a lot of tingling nerve movements in the paralyzed side of my face whenever i work out or get my heart rate up. Its kind of like get zapped with a weak battery all over my cheek and upper lip area. It stays around for awhile, then goes away. Sometimes I will get this sensation out of the blue, but it is mostly when I exercise. It's been months of this going on and still no movement in my face. Do you think exercise can help with facial regeneration? If so, why all these months of these weird sensations and nothing yet in improvement. I want to believe my doctor, but i feel like he's just putting me off. I was in ICU for 11 days after my large tumor removal due to severe swelling. Not sure if that is why its taking so long. I feel great in nearly every other way, but this is really getting me down. Plus, I'm scared that if I do regain some facial movement, then gamma next Jan. will put me back to square one. I have asked my doctor, but like i said, he just puts back the date I should expect some improvement even further.

[saralynn143]

I got those tingly feelings just before seeing movement in that area. First right next to my nose, then at the corner of my mouth, later further back in my cheek.

My facial nerve doc told me not to do anything during the first year post-op other than let the nerve heal. He said that would minimize cross-wiring of the nerve impulses. After a year I saw a physical therapist who gave me some facial exercises.

I am now five years out and I would say I have 65-70% improvement. Most people don't notice anything wrong anymore. I do, of course. My eye does not blink normally and my smile is not even. But it's entirely liveable. I have the tell-tale off-center chin dimple, but not the more annoying synkensis like having my eye close when I eat or smile.

I wish you all the best in your recovery.

[Smedina]

My situation is a little different.  My facial nerve was injured in surgery at the brainstem level.  I also experienced brain swelling & numerous other complications.  I spent almost 3.5 months in the hospital, including a month in an intensive rehab hospital.  Much of that time either in the ICU or stepdown. 

Maybe three months or so after my 12-7 nerve graft, I started feeling a tingling or pulling sensation around my upper lip & the corner of my mouth.  In the 2 years since, I've come to correlate the tingling sensation in an area of my face with improving muscle tone & ultimately some degree of movement.  It's not the same as before, but it is worlds away from where I was.  I think I'm much more aware of the deficits than anyone else.   

Recovery takes time, especially nerve recovery.  But if you don't feel like you're getting an adequate response from your doctor, another professional opinion might set your mind at ease.   

Best of luck in your recovery.

[cassie]

Thanks for your responses so far. I have been feeling these sensations for months now with no facial improvement at all. Like I mentioned it's been 6 months. You would think I would have had some improvement by now, especially if the doctor says he expects my facial nerves to recover. I cannot afford to go get a second opinion, not that it would change anything anyway. I just keep hoping and praying for some kind of recovery, but every morning when i wake up, things are exactly the same. The left side of my mouth doesn't move at all and my eye is stuck in that wide open stare, even with the eye weight. Still, after my heart rates up, I feel these sensations more. I wonder if its just because my hearts beating loader and faster or if the nerves are actually get "charged" from the exercise. I want to get up every day and keep believing things will improve and keep on my healthy regime, but some days I get so discouraged, I just want to sit on the couch and cry all day, eating crap food and just give up. It's sad and funny that i never thought i was pretty enough or liked my face much at all, and now I would give anything to have that smile back. People can be so judgemental and cruel the way they stare at you. I hate that "sympathy" look. I just want to be back to normal. I'm 47, but felt 25 prior to this AN, and now I feel like 100!

[Gloria Nailor]

The waiting and not knowing if you will regain movement in your face is horrible.  I started speech therapy and facial exercises within weeks of my surgery.  All of the docs I met with told me that you can have up to 2 years to regain movement. Near my one year post op anniversary, I woke up with a lopsided smile, it came on suddenly, no little twitches, just woke up with movement.  I had been staring at my face while doing exercises for almost a year and sometimes saw tiny twitches and then one day just woke up with some movement in my mouth and cheek.  I did my facial exercises for two years and now I no longer do them.  I am 2.5 years post surgery and people are still telling me that they see changes in my face, so hang in there, don't give up hope.  Nerve regeneration is very slow. I remember feeling disgusted about being so hung up on how I looked, I never thought of myself as being a vain person.  Part of me felt that because I looked different,that people might think I was mentally handicapped and treat me differently, it was silly, but how I felt.  the hardest part of my recovery was the emotional aspect, dealing with deafness and facial paralysis. I took an antidepressant and saw a therapist, I recommend both.  As I said, hang in there, it does get easier.  I finally feel myself again after 2.5 years

[Kristena]

I am inclined to say that no, you shouldn't do any exercises yet. It's really hard to wait it out, but the nerves do have their own timetable for when (and how hard) they are going to start working. It's absolutely normal to feel depressed, and you should allow yourself that self-pity time. But I do think that normal movements are best--even if there's no movement at all. Later on you can always do exercises to strengthen the muscles that have recovered, but doing so before it's time may cause irreversible synkinesis. I don't believe forced facial exercises will cause anything to come back quicker. Exercise for your body and mind however is wonderful!

I do want to ask Glorianailor if you experienced any synkinesis--since you started your facial exercises within weeks. I did as well. I thought I was being so smart and taking the bull by the horns, but now I am experiencing horribly embarrassing synkinesis at 8 months.

[kawman600]

Three weeks after surgery my therapist had me doing facial exercises , as my eye would not close, and the left side of my face was also not functional,I would do facial exercises 3 times a day, within a month I could see great progress,I could start to blink my eye and the nerves in my face got better, i could actually smile again! So I would say start the exercises ! I am coming up on my fifth year post and nobody can tell !

[patrickdoyle]

I go to the eye surgeon and neurosurgeon in 2 weeks.  I have so much to ask.  But do you find the scleral lens the way to go?  Do you use this in conjunction with a weight implanted or alone?  Do you get a prescription for glasses?  2 weeks after surgery I had a scratched cornea and my eye kept drying out.  They stitched it shut with a botox injection.  It was removed  after a week.  Right now I keep it moist with drops but experience double vision when I look ahead with both eyes (I reported it to my surgeon and he thinks botox leaked in the muscles).  It stinks but I can live with my face paralyzed, although I do hope it returns in some capacity, but I just want to be able to see.  I feel incredible vulnerability when going out because of this.  Being able to see would be so refreshing.