Facial Paresis question for House Ear Clinic patients (Dr. Slattery & Schwartz)

[MrAK82]

Hello all,

I got my surgery done on Jan 30th and my face was perfect immediately after the surgery but within 2 hours I got numbness/weakness on my right side. According to Dr. Slattery and Dr. Schwartz, my facial nerve was not penetrated too much and it was intact but they are surprised as well that it was okay after the surgery but within 2 hours it went from 2 to 4 on the scale of 0-6 being 6 as worst.

In your personal experience, did someone go through the same? Is it common to be okay immediately after the surgery but within hours have facial paresis? How much time before you got back your facial movements? Did facial physical therapy or some kind of exercise expedite in getting the movements back?

My tumor was 1.1cm and hadn't penetrated facial nerve but we went through mid-fossa approach to preserve the hearing.

Any reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

[cassie]

Well, I'd like to know an answer to that qustion as well. The EXACT thing happened to me with my hearing.

As far as facial paralysis goes, I am 6 months out from my surgery and still awaiting my facial recovery. Doctor says he did not severe the nerve. I have just started some facial exercises out of desperation. I did read somewhere that you should wait awhile before beginning any type of facial exercises to give the nerves time to regenerate.

I wish you the best.

[saralynn143]

In the world of hemifacial spasm surgery (which is what I have), delayed facial palsy has a much better prognosis than immediate onset.

Please read the section on predicting facial nerve recovery at http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/CranialBaseCenter/b95.htm. Sounds like you fall into the last category.