Eyebrows

[Darren]

Hey Team.

I'm almost 2 months post op and still a grade 5 on HB.  I have read that once the facial muscles start to come back its from the bottom up....... I have good resting tone besides a slight droop @ the corner of my mouth. No smile and I can close my eye lid with a little effort.  If I try to move my eyebrows down my palsie side actually moves down as well and I even notice twitching on my an side of the nose when I attempt that.  Is that good or bad?  Has anyone else started recovering top to bottom or am I just imagining things lol

thanks,

Darren

[Kaybo]

IMO, which isn't worth much, I think that ANY movement is a good sign - I NEVER had any movement what so ever!!   

K

[saralynn143]

Hi Darren, I had also heard and read that a bottom to top recovery is typical, but there are plenty of exceptions. The facial nerve has five branches, some longer than others, and the one to the forehead being the longest. However, sometimes one nerve branch will heal faster than the others, and sometimes some of the branches will recover but others do not.

My first movement came beside my nose (the twitch that you describe), then my cheek, then some eyelid movement. But nothing yet in my chin or forehead. When I smile I am seeing more and more upper teeth, but my lower lip is not pulling down at all so my grin is still fairly lopsided.

Some of the movement in your eyebrows may actually be the strong pull from the non-paralyzed side. I know I was excited about my eyebrow pulling up a little until I realized it was from the other side.

I've learned to rejoice in what I get when I get it. I'll do the same for you!

Sara

[Debbi]

My doc said that usually the mid-face is the first to come back because it is the shortest stretch of nerve. In my case, cheek and mid-face came back at about seven months.  My AN eyebrow still doesn't move more than a fraction and only if I really concentrate.  My lower lip/chin are still pretty dead.  When I saw my doc last week he said what we've all heard - facial nerve recovery is very unpredictable! 

Just be careful not to work the muscles too much as this can cause the muscles to bunch up.  My facial therapist stressed the need to be slow and steady - quality over quantity.

It sounds to me like you're seeing some very good signs - keep us posted!

Debbi