Pain when touching/stretching face and exercises for the mouth and lips

[Hanz139]

I am 5 months post on set of Bell’s palsy and my recovery still has a long way to go.

I have seen some facial exercises online to try such as inter oral facial massages and stretching the eyebrow and chin etc. However when I do so it is quite painful.

Is this pain normal and does it mean that my nerves are still growing ? Should I continue despite the pain.

Also I have begun to get synkensis when I smile however my upper lip doesn’t curl at all and you can only see 2.5 teeth on the palsy side. The bottom lip doesn’t move at all.

Does anybody have any lip exercises from strengthening the lips and cheek muscles ?

[FLNJFL]

Hello Hanz139,

Each person’s Bell’s is different so it’s hard to say if your exercise experience is the norm. However, a little bit of tenderness at 5 months I believe is most peoples experience (no exercise). And then when you add exercise it will be more tender as you do the movements.

The good news is that you are only at 5 months so you are still in the early stages. My belief is that even mild cases where full function returns soon, it still takes additional time to feel more “normal”. The first time I got bell’s in 2004 it took 3-4 months to get my movements back, but it took about a year to be completely functional at about 95%. So though it is very difficult waiting to heal, giving it time is key.

Also right now as you are healing it is very important that you do exercises and stretches that are designed for bell’s. The Queen Victoria hospital videos on YouTube are great. Be very careful as you do the exercises to not allow yourself to make unwanted movements while you are making intended movements, as doing so is believed to make synkinese worse.

The lip movements you want to do are natural ones you would make like a pucker for example, but you use your hand to assist the weak side and look in mirror when you do it to be sure you are doing it symmetrically which is what retrains your brain to make the right connections.

Hope this helps!