Nerve or Muscular damage post facelift

I am six weeks post-op from a facelift. Everything seems to be healing properly with the exception of my mouth.  When I smile (or try to show my teeth), the left corner of my bottom lip doesn't draw downward.  Instead it pulls toward the right giving me a goofy look when I smile big.  Also this causes me to bite the left side of my bottom lip when I eat.  Is this normal after six weeks?  My doctor says that it is the nerve that needs to heal and not to worry, but it doesn't seem to have improved at all.  I would appreciate any and all experiences or advise.  Thanks!

[Howard Rosenberg, MD]

Based on your description, it appears that some trauma or injury has occurred to the mandibular branch of your facial nerve on the left.  This hopefully is due to blunt trauma to the nerve rather than actual division of the nerve.  It is my experience that with blunt trauma, almost full recovery of nerve function will occur over three to four months.  Be patient with the healing of this area and you will likely experience full recovery of function.

[mdesthy]

Thank you so much for your prompt response; hopefully the nerve will heal and restore muscular function.  Thanks for your reassurance!

[sammy70]

I had a tummy  tuck about 19 months ago, all was well up untill early December 06, I then developed numbness in my hands, then my feet and shooting pain up my legs, I had a nerve biopsy last April that confirmed that I had active axonal neuropathy, would the tummy tuck have caused this? Sam