![]() Some doctors advocate surgery, but surgery carries risks, including damaging important structures in the face. For these cases, doctors may prescribe corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation and thus ease the pressure on the squeezed nerve. Most cases of facial nerve paralysis that have an unknown cause are classed as Bell’s palsy. The symptoms usually clear up within three to four weeks of the child being born, unless the nerve has been completely cut. And some babies have it as a result of a traumatic natural birth, or where forceps were used to assist in delivery. ![]() Rather than develop facial nerve damage, some people are born with it as part of rare syndromes, such as Mobius syndrome (a neurological disease). Regardless of the cause, the resulting inflammation results in compression of the nerve in the facial canal and the loss of function of muscles involved in chewing. The condition is named after the 19th-century Scottish anatomist and surgeon Sir Charles Bell who used three cases to describe the palsy (paralysis) that was named after him.Ī man with Bell’s palsy. Bell’s palsy is the most common form of facial nerve paralysis and encompasses cases where the cause of the paralysis cannot be identified. Some people also experience headaches, jaw ache and tinnitus (ringing in the ears).īell’s palsy is one of a group of conditions that can cause paralysis of the facial nerve. They may also drool and find it difficult to chew food. People with Bell’s palsy can find it difficult to close their eyelid on the affected side. If the facial nerve is inflammed it can interfere with the signals that the brain sends to muscles in the face, causing one side of the face to become paralysed. For these nerves to do this, they must pass through a passage of bone near the upper jaw. ![]() As with almost every nerve, the facial nerve is connected to the brain to either carry information from the brain to control muscles or return information to the brain relating to sensory information. The condition occurs when the facial nerve becomes inflammed. Bell’s palsy is a – usually – self-limiting condition that causes paralysis to one side of a person’s face.
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