Post-Treatment > Facial Issues

Facial nerve recovery after a year

(1/2) > >>

Vlorona:
Hello all!
I'm about 14 months in with facial paralysis And my Nuerologist mentioned to me that I prop got as much function back that I'm gonna get. Around 5 months in I noticed movement in my face and was so excited thinking I will completely heal. I could almost close my eye all the way and my cheek moves a bit but not enough to smile n show teeth. Well around 7 months I started to notice synkinesis. Seems like I have the eye/ mouth synkinesis. My eye squints when I try n smile or pucker my lips. My cheek raises when I blink and I have a dimple in my chin. I started NMR therapy in October with a Dr who was trained by Jackie diehls. My dimple in my chin seems to not b as big when puckering my lips Now but that's all I've noticed so far. I'm just a little bummed about the nuerogist comments :(. My otologist I seen back in Jan said the nerve usually heals up to 18 months. I'm trying to be hopeful that I will get some more movement soon but it's just so hard to be hopeful. I just want to smile again and eat somewhat normal again. It's so hard to eat with not very good movement in my cheek and I can only chew food on non affected side. I was hoping I would recover Alot sooner as my paralysis was not immediate(took about 3 days)I had no drooping to my face initially(I have always looked normal with no facial expression) and I have always been able to keep my eye shut if I nudged it shut

ccooper:
Exact same situation but I'm just 11 months. My face went paralyzed the day after so we knew the nerve was intact. I have about the same movement as you but sounds like a bit more mouth movement. Just last week I talked to two neurosurgeons who said 12-24 months and that really, if you are still progressing that's all that matters. And that sometimes you go weeks and months without any progress and then you'll get movement somewhere. So there is still a lot of hope. But I've also explored what the next steps would be if I didn't advance so I know my options and feel a bit optimistic if things didn't continue to improve. best of luck to you

Vlorona:
I sure hope I get some new movement soon! I know my face will never be the same but would love to at least show some teeth n a partial smile. I've seen a few ppl who had major improvements In their smile from 1 year after all the way till 3 years after so I know it's possible. I haven't seen any changes or more movement since month 5 well except the synkinesis becoming more pronounced. I guess I really need to be patient but it's so hard knowing it's really unpredictable how much recover one can get

Rhcdad:
I am approximately 14 months post trans-lab surgery and had facial weakness post-surgery.  I to have developed synkinesis on my surgery side. I cannot speak clearly and have the facial dimple that I have heard others mention. I have recently started facial exercises per my PT maybe getting Botox injections in the future, time will tell what my future has in store for me, perhaps additional surgeries I don’t know. These times are challenging but I am glad to read that I am not alone in this new journey I am on. Stay strong!

Sanderson:
So what happened to everyone? Improvement? Surgery? What decisions were made?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page