The term facial palsy generally refers to weakness of the facial muscles, mainly resulting from temporary or permanent damage to the facial nerve.
When a facial nerve is either non-functioning or missing, the muscles in the face do not receive the necessary signals in order to function properly. This results in paralysis of the affected part of the face, which can affect movement of the eye(s) and/or the mouth, as well as other areas.
There are different degrees of facial paralysis: sometimes only the lower half of the face is affected, sometimes one whole side of the face is affected and in some cases both sides of the face are affected.
For those seeking online support there are many Facebook groups connected to the various causes of facial palsy which you can find by doing a search on Facebook.
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What causes facial palsy?
Although the most commonly known cause of facial paralysis is Bell’s palsy, there are actually many different causes of facial palsy, and treatment and prognosis vary greatly depending on the cause. Some of the main causes of facial palsy are listed below:
- Bell’s palsy, an idiopathic condition, meaning that no conclusive cause has been established although links have been made with viruses.
- Viral infections such as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
- Surgical causes: for example during removal of acoustic neuroma or facial nerve tumour, or when operating on the parotid gland.
- Bacterial causes such as Lyme disease or following a middle ear infection.
- Neurological conditions such as Neurofibromatosis 2, or Guillain-Barré syndrome.
- Traumatic injury such as fractures to the brain, skull or face.
- Birth trauma: for example caused by forceps or facial presentation delivery.
- Congenital conditions such as an abnormal development of the facial nerve or muscle in the womb.
- Rare genetic syndromes such as Moebius syndrome or CHARGE syndrome.
- Stroke: although a stroke can cause facial palsy it is slightly different in that the problems are not caused by direct damage to the facial nerve. The paralysis in this case is caused by brain damage and the messages not being transferred properly to the facial nerve.
See our comprehensive list of facial palsy causes