Bell’s palsy
Saturday, September 10th, 2011Bell’s palsy is a paralysis of the facial nerve that was first described by Sir Charles Bell, a Scottish surgeon of the early nineteenth century. It may affect men and women at any age, though it occurs most commonly between the ages of 30 to 50. The onset of facial paralysis may be abrupt: the patient may awaken one morning unable to move one side of his face. He can’t wrinkle one side of his forehead or raise his eye brow. The eye will not close on the affected side, and when attempting to smile, the face is pulled to the opposite side. Occasionally the patient may experience discomfort about the ear on the involved side. There is no difficulty in swallowing, but because the muscles about the corner of the mouth are weak, drooling is not uncommon and food may accumulate in the gutter between the gum and lip. Bell’s palsy may affect the branch of the facial nerve that supplies taste sensation to the anterior part of the tongue and the branch that supplies a small muscle in the middle ear whose function is to dampen loud sounds. Depending on the extent to which the facial nerve is affected, the patient may be unable to perceive taste on the side of the paralysis and may be unusually sensitive to sounds a condition known as hyperacusis.