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In this procedure, surgeons remove healthy muscle tissue, with its nerve and blood vessels, from another area of the body, such as the leg, and implant it into the paralyzed side of the face. The surgeons place the healthy muscle in the correct orientation to allow active facial motion, such as smiling.

Facial reanimation surgery helps make the face look more even and may restore facial movement. Examples of this type of surgery include an eyebrow lift, an eyelid lift, facial implants and nerve grafts. Some procedures, such as an eyebrow lift, may need to be repeated after several years.

It can take up to one year to see the full results of facial expressions and a symmetrical smile resulting from facial reanimation surgery. Reversal from nerve damage takes time to see results. Remember, to be patient and follow all discharge instructions carefully to ensure total healing.

You can expect to resume your normal activities two to three weeks after your surgery, and you can expect movement of your face around four to six weeks. After you adequately recover, Dr. Rose will refer you to a physical therapist who will help you re-learn how to move and use your face.

What is facial reanimation? Facial reanimation procedures help children move their face or make more even movements on both sides of their face. The nerve that controls the face muscles is called the “facial nerve.” One facial nerve comes out of each side of the skull near the ear.

For the lower face (to reconstruct smile), static options include fascial sling or midface lift procedures. Dynamic reconstructive options include “baby sitter” nerve transfer procedures, same side or cross face nerve grafting, free functioning muscle transfer, or temporalis myoplasty.

Facial paralysis may stem from traumatic injury or severe health conditions. Therefore, insurance companies may recognize facial reanimation surgery as a functional medical necessity and offer coverage for treatment.

The WTP to repair facial paralysis increases nonlinearly with severity (P = . 005), ranging from $3487 (95% CI, $2362–$4961) to repair low-grade paralysis to $8571 (95% CI, $6401–$11 234) to repair medium-grade paralysis and $20 431 (95% CI, $16 273–$25 317) to repair high-grade paralysis.