The Facial Paralysis Institute Blog

Facial Paralysis in the Media

If you’ve spent a certain amount of time on the Facial Paralysis Institute’s website, then you may have seen the work that Dr. Azizzadeh, Director of the Institute, carried out for Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the Oprah Winfrey show.  You can read about and see Mary Jo’s transformation here: http://www.facialparalysisinstitute.com/MaryStory.html.

Yet what about facial paralysis and Bells Palsy in the rest of the media? Many people are unsure of what Bells Palsy actually is, and up until the past four or five years facial paralysis had not had all that much mainstream focus.

What we’re really glad to see are instances of people’s facial paralysis experiences being reported in newspapers and on television. Take, for instance, the recent report in the New York Times blog (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/lyme-disease-cases-up-sharply/) on how the number of Lyme Disease cases are on the rise, and as one of the commenters points out - a warning sign is the onset of facial paralysis. If something as simple as that alerts one person then it’s worth it - but thousands read the blog, so it’s more than worthwhile. So, if you have suffered from facial paralysis we urge you not to stay silent about your experience. The key to recovery is to catch the condition and treat it quickly, so if your story can raise awareness then why not blog about it, or write to your favorite magazine who might print the story?

Bells Palsy and facial paralysis are not conditions that are unheard of anymore, but even still, we would like to see that everyone in the US knows what they are and what the warning signs of an episode may be. The principle is so simple: you have a lack of control over your facial muscles, you go to your doctor ASAP. Hopefully with this kind of initiative a number of people will see a difference between recovery in three months, rather than twelve.  Early treatment can reduce the risk of long-term deformity.

The Social Impacts of Facial Paralysis

Facial paralysis and Bell’s Palsy both have a number of emotional and physical effects, such as anxiety over the sudden lack of control, and depression from feeling helpless.

One of the major impacts that facial paralysis has on a person’s life is their ability to interact with others socially. One recent article on SunSentinel.com ‘How Can You Express Emotion When You Have Facial Paralysis?’ (http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-04-07/news/sfl-facial-expressions-040710_1_expressions-social-worker-david-matsumoto) takes a look at a social worker in Los Angeles who cannot connect with the people she worked with because she suffered from Moebius syndrome - a congenital condition that causes facial paralysis.

So much of human interaction relies on facial expressions, and yet incredibly we often don’t realize just how much until it’s gone. In SunSentinel.com’s article, writer Benedict Carey explains that we naturally mimic the expressions of the people we’re talking to, in order to empathize with them and show our understanding. Those who can’t mimic those expressions come across as cold, and despite what they might say to ensure someone they understand, it’s difficult to accept that they do.

Many of those suffering with facial paralysis rely on body language to express the emotions that can’t be expressed through words and should be expressed through facial expressions. Nods and shakes of the head, the position of the arms and legs and gesticulating with the hands can do a lot. People who are talking to someone with facial paralysis need to be taught to look at body language to get their subtle social clues and aid interaction, but unfortunately this is not common knowledge.  

Because facial paralysis has such serious implications for a sufferer’s mental health as well as their physical health, it’s of paramount importance that we raise awareness of the conditions, and find ways for these individuals to cope and function well in social situations. Here at the Facial Paralysis Institute we are all about raising awareness, so if you can tweet a link to this article, or email it to your contacts and it’s read by just one person, you could make a world of difference to someone with the condition.

Bell's Palsy Treatment Options

Welcome to the Facial Paralysis Institute Blog! Here you’ll find out about any updates, new procedures and new findings in Bell’s Palsy and facial paralysis treatment, as well as gain an insight into the FPI’s surgery center, the staff that work here and what we aim to do for our patients.

If you’re unfamiliar with any of the conditions we treat here, please take a look at the sections of our site, found at the top of each page. Our Harvard and UCLA trained surgeons and physicians specialize in Otolaryngology, Bell’s Palsy and facial paralysis treatment, as well as facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and nerve transplants.

We’re starting off our blog today with information on Bell’s Palsy Surgical treatment, as it’s an important area for many of our patients.

Firstly it’s important to remember that facial paralysis and Bell’s Palsy are not one and the same. Bell’s Palsy is a sub-condition of the more general term ‘facial paralysis’ and it is used to describe patients who experience facial paralysis but with no or little known cause. It’s thought that viral infection of the cranio-facial nerve may often be the cause of Bell’s Palsy, but there is no easy way to prove this.  

Secondly, we are keen to stress that Bell’s Palsy surgery treatment is not a first port of call for our trained and experienced physicians, as in many cases it is not needed. Treatments such as physiotherapy, along with anaesthetic nerve blocks, strong antiviral medications and courses of corticosteroids can be of great help to many sufferers of Bell’s Palsy, providing the condition is caught and treated early.

Surgery is reserved for patients who have suffered heavy nerve damage, whereby other methods of treatment may be futile. To determine the extent of nerve damage, our physicians now use ENoG (Electro Neuronography) to investigate, and if 95% of nerve damage is found, then surgery may be considered in the first few weeks after the onset of Bell’s Palsy.

The Bell’s Palsy surgical procedure is also known as ‘Facial Nerve Decompression’, where the nerve is opened and the protective sheath released. If the nerve has been compressed, or is swollen then the protective sheath will be compacting it and preventing adequate information to pass between the brain and the facial muscles. Allowing this nerve to decompress can give some control back to the patient in extreme cases, and where other forms of medical treatment have already been sought. Under no circumstances will a patient be offered surgery for Bell’s Palsy straight away - they will need to have various tests to rule out other causes, and their physician will need to try any other (less invasive) treatment that could possibly help.

Often the full benefits of facial nerve decompression aren’t seen until 8 to 12 months following the surgery, so patients should be aware that they will not regain facial muscle tone or movement straight away.  

Hopefully we’ve gone some way to explaining more about the Bell’s Palsy condition, and the possible treatments that there are for it. Please subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up to date with any news in the field, and further blog entries on Bell’s Palsy and facial paralysis.