Bells Palsy

By Shannon Gamez

Oh my Gosh Im having a Stroke!

You wake up one morning, and your face

feels stiff and odd. When you look in a
mirror, half your face appears to droop.
You can only manage half a smile, your
eye is dripping tears and doesn't want to
close. What in the world is going on?

No silly its Bells Palsy

If your muscle weakness or paralysis
affects only your face, a more likely cause
is Bell's palsy.
Defined as temporary facial paralysis

Trauma

or damage to the 2 facial nerves

Who is this Bell guy?

Charles Bell
Well

known for his studies on the nervous

system and the brain
In the 19th century discovered that lesions of
the 7th cranial nerve causes facial paralysis

What nerve was that again?

The 7th cranial nerve is paired
with the
structure that travels through a
narrow,
bony canal (called the Fallopian
canal) in the skull
beneath the ear
to the muscles on each side of
the face.
The nerve is mostly encased in
this bony shell.

Facial Nerve
Each nerve controls:
Eye

blinking and closing

Facial expressions

Smiling and frowning

Tear

glands
Saliva glands
Muscle of small bone in middle of ear called the
stapes
Taste sensations

S/S

Varies from person to person

Comes

on suddenly
Mild to total paralysis

Weakness, twitching on one of

both sides of the face

Facial

and eyelid droop

Drooling
Dryness of eye or mouth
Impairment of taste
Excessive tearing of eye

Other S/S

Pain or discomfort in jaw and behind the ear

Ringing in one or both ears
Loss of taste
Headache
Hypersensitivity to sound
Impaired speech
Dizziness
Difficulty eating and drinking

What Causes This?

It occurs when the facial nerve is swollen,

inflamed, or compressed

So what causes the damage?

Mostly unknown
May be caused by a viral infection
Viral meningitis
Herpes simplex

Influenza
Headaches
Chronic ear infections
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Sarcoidosis
Tumors
Lyme disease
trauma

Who can get this?

Affects 40,000 Americans each year

Men

and women equally affected

Can occur at any age

Mostly after 15 and before 60 y/o

Occurs more often in people who:

Are

pregnant
Are diabetic
Have an upper respiratory infection

Diagnosed

There are no specific lab tests to confirm

diagnosis
Will exam for upper and lower facial weakness
Electromyography
Confirm

presence of damage and determine severity

MRI and CT
r/o

causes of pressure on nerve

Treatment

No real Treatment
Symptoms

usually subside

Anti-inflammatory and an antiviral

Prednisone

and acyclovir

Increases the chance of recovery

Acupuncture and surgery

For

long term paralysis

Treatment Cont.

Hard to close eye

Use

and eye patch

Eye drops
Tape eye shut when sleeping

When does it go away?

Outcome is good!!!
Total recovery depends on amount of damage to nerve
Improvement is gradual
Usually start to get better after 2 weeks of onset and
most recover completely within 3 to 6 months.
In a few cases, the symptoms may never completely
disappear.
In rare cases, the disorder may recur, either on the
same or the opposite side of the face.

Thats interesting

Famous people that have had Bells palsy

Roseanne Barr, American actress and comedian

Stevie Benton, Bassist for Texas rock band, Drowning Pool
Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor and producer
George Clooney, American actor, director, producer and
screenwriter
Alexis Denisof, Actor
Graeme Garden, British comedy writer and performer, who has
written about his experiences with the condition
Tony Gonzalez, American NFL football player
Jane Greer, actress, had when 15 y/o

The list goes on

Katie Holmes, Actress

Ralph Kiner, American baseball player in the 1940s and 1950s
Amy Goodman, American journalist and author
Curtis LeMay, was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice
presidential running mate of independent candidate George C. Wallace
in 1968
Ralph Nader, American author, activist, politician
Jim Ross, professional wrestling announcer for WWE RAW
Rick Savage, British musician and bassist for Def Leppard
Jamey Sheridan, American actor. His condition was written into the
show Law and Order: Criminal Intent and his character Captain James
Deakins also had Bell's palsy.
Joseph C. Wilson, American diplomat
Milo Ventimiglia, Actor

My sources tell me

www.bellspalsy.org.uk
Bells

palsy association

Hcd2.bupa.com.uk
En.wikipedia.org