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Lack of Mouth Movement, Unable to Blink or Pucker: All Results of Facelift?
It sounds like you may be describing facial nerve weakness or injury. I would recommend following up with the plastic surgeon who performed your facelift so they can examine you and determine the degree and pattern of the weakness. Fortunately, smaller degrees of facial nerve weakness often improve as the nerve recovers, with improvement commonly occurring over several months. In many cases, meaningful recovery can occur within 3–6 months, although the timeline can vary depending on the extent and location of the nerve injury.
Clinical Context
After a facelift, temporary swelling can make lips or eyelids feel stiff simply from tissue tightness, and this typically resolves as swelling subsides. True facial nerve weakness usually looks different — often affecting one side or one specific movement, like eye closure or lip motion, independent of swelling. Numbness from sensory nerves is separate from muscle weakness from motor nerves; both can occur after surgery but involve different nerve fibers with their own recovery patterns.
