Bell’s palsy, otherwise called acute peripheral facial palsy is assumed as the result of swelling and inflammation of the nerve that controls the muscles on any one side of one’s face. The cause is still exactly unknown and can occur at any age. It may be sometimes a reaction that occurs after a viral infection.  Jerush Dental & Facial Corrective Centre, Thuckalay, Tamilnadu has a history of successfully treated Bell’s Palsy cases.

A year back, village lady Kanagam(38) visited our center with a misshaped face complaining that she had felt something uncommon on her face from the morning, the moment she had woke up from her bed. ‘I looked in the mirror and I was shocked to see my endangered face’ she added. She could not pronounce her name promptly either.

About Bell’s palsy:

Bell’s Palsy can occur at any time to anyone. People may sometimes doubt if it is that so-called ‘stoke’. It is a condition that temporarily paralyzes or weakens any one side of the face at a time. Though the exact cause for this condition is still not clear, Doctors believe, it is due to the trauma happening to the facial nerve or the seventh cranial nerve. Scientists suggest that it can be due to viral infections in the body.

Common symptoms of Bell’s Palsy are difficulty in closing the eyelid or blinking, abnormal watering from the eye, Drooling, Difficulty in eating or moving the muscles, twitching of facial muscles, etc.

How our patient was treated?

Our maxillofacial surgeon suggested doing a complete physical examination. After observing the results, our surgeon asked her to close her eyelid on the affected side of her face but she could not do it. This is the best way of confirming if a patient is affected by Bell’s Palsy while all other tests are failed to diagnose this disease. The patient’s ailment was thus concluded as Bell’s Palsy.  Some other tests including X-ray, CT scan, and MRI were done to clarify the diagnosis.

A special medication and a special method of massaging on the face were advised to Kanagam. Applying exercise/massage over the affected side and face is inevitable to retain the normalcy of the facial muscles.  She was also informed about the curing time of her present condition. Kanagam followed our instructions without ignorance. After a three months time gap when she visited our surgeon, her face has retained almost 90% of its shape.