Bell's palsy is a disorder, which mostly happens due to temporary weakness of the facial muscles. This disorder develops suddenly and affects one side of the face. In this disease complete paralysis or numbness is experienced in the facial region. The cranial nerve that controls the functioning of facial muscles on the face shows incapability to send to brain and receive signals from it. Patients suffering from this disorder show helplessness towards controlling movement of their facial muscles. This has been a very common type of facial paralysis and neurologic disorder involving the cranial nerve all throughout the globe.
Facial paralysis and no control over facial muscles Unable to taste or loses sense of taste Feeling weakness of the muscles and nerves in the facial region Difficulty in closing eyes Pain in and outside ears Numbness of the jaws, forehead, cheek, mouth region Blurred view In attempt to raise eyebrows, the forehead region affected by Bell's palsy remains flat Smiling distorts the face of the patient
The damage that happens to the facial nerve can lead to various complications.
Some of them have been described below:The sooner the diagnosis starts, better it will be for the patient to recover from its detrimental impact. The doctor will carefully see all the symptoms and causes that are leading to such facial paralysis. A comprehensive checkup will be performed of the areas including head, neck and ears of the patient. Some of the visible evidences can be presence of tumor, stroke or Lyme disease. Facial muscles are also evaluated precisely to figure out if any other nerve other than cranial nerve is impacted due to this disorder.
On the basis of thorough examination, if the doctor detects any change in facial structure then it can be a sign of a tumor. A visible rash can be a sign of Lyme disease. To confirm the presence of Bell's palsy, a patient can be advised to consult a specialized ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist i.e., an otolaryngologist. An otolaryngologist will examine the patient's condition and would prescribe following tests for accurate identification of problem.
These tests are: