Bell's Palsy

If you have Bell's palsy, the muscles in your face become temporarily paralyzed. It usually affects just one side of the face. Symptoms appear suddenly - you can't shut your eye and your mouth droops. Symptoms are usually worst about 48 hours after they start.

Scientists think that a viral infection makes the facial nerve swell or become inflamed. You are most likely to get Bell's palsy if you are pregnant, diabetic or sick with a cold or flu.

Three in four patients improve without treatment. With or without treatment, most people begin to get better within 2 weeks and most recover completely within 3 to 6 months.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Bell's Palsy on Wikipedia

'''Bell's palsy''' (facial palsy) is characterised by facial drooping due to malfunction of the facial nerve (VII cranial nerve), which controls the muscles of the face. Named after Scottish anatomist Charles Bell, who first described it, Bell's palsy is the most common acute mononeuropathy (disease involving only one nerve), and is the most common cause of acute facial nerve paralysis. Bell’s palsy affects about 40,000 people in the United States every year. It affects approximately 1 person in 65 during a lifetime. Additional symptoms that may accompany the condition are pain around the ear and loss of taste. In the great majority of patients, only one side of the face is affected. Detection of sensory loss, hearing loss, or ataxia during examination militates against the diagnosis of Bell's palsy and suggests the need for further evaluation. Clinicians should determine whether all branches of the facial nerve are involved, or whether the forehead muscles are spared. Since these receive innervation from both sides of the brain, the forehead can still be wrinkled by a patient whose facial palsy is caused by a problem in the brain rather than in the facial nerve itself. Bell's palsy is a diagnosis of exclusion, and in most cases no specific cause can be ascertained. It is supposed to be the result of inflammation of the facial nerve which produces pressure on the nerve as it exits the skull within its bony canal. Patients with facial palsy for which an underlying cause can be readily found are not generally considered to have Bell's palsy per se. These underlying problems include tumor, meningitis, stroke, diabetes mellitus, head Physical trauma and inflammatory diseases of the cranial nerves (sarcoidosis, brucellosis etc). In these conditions, the neurologic findings are rarely restricted to the facial nerve. Babies can be born with Facial palsy and they exhibit many of the same ...   [ Read More ]

External Resources

Neurology Complications of HIV and AIDS; Care and Research - Treatment of AIDS/HIV problems such as neuropathy, memory disturbance, dementia, headache, pain, shingles, Bell's Palsy, myopathy, spinal cord disease and gait disorders.

The Bell's Palsy Network - FAQs, forum, weekly chat and links.

National Centers for Facial Paralysis, Inc. - Bells Palsy treatments: specialists in the rehabilitation of paralyzed facial muscle with over 60 facial palsy centers in the US. A commercial enterprise.

Prednisone for Bell's Palsy - Effect of early treatment of Bell's palsy with prednisolone. Interpretation of one study by Bandolier, a UK health care journal.

NeurologyChannel.com - Bell's Palsy information and resources.

Bell's Palsy Menu - Webforum to discuss and comment on Bell's palsy.

Treatments We've Used for Bell's Palsy - Forum for discussion of treatment options. Unmoderated.

Drug InfoNet Doctors' Answers to Frequently Asked Questions - Bell's Palsy - Answers to frequently asked questions, for discussion purposes.

Health Hubs - A brief definition of Bell's palsy, followed by links to overviews, research articles and case reports.

Is Tegretol used for Bells Palsy? - The Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum - "ask the doctor" medical forum for patients hosted by Med Help Intl.

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