This will help maintain the memory of the signal that must be transmitted to the muscles when the time comes for everything to start to move. Avoiding excessive facial exercises in the early days will give the nerve time to recover from the trauma, start the healing and regrowth processes, and help to avoid promoting synkinesis. Remember that you're recovering from an injury. Give your nerve the chance to rest and heal just as you would if it were a broken bone. Curl upper lip up and raise and protrude upper lip.
Compress lips together.
Try moving your lips into a small smile slowly. Then gently pucker slowly using equal strength from both sides. Draw angle of mouth upward so as to deepen furrow from side of nose to side of mouth. Using your index finger and thumb pull the corners of your lips in toward the center. Slowly and smoothly push out and up into a smile.