Bell’s Palsy

Bell’s palsy is an acute paralysis or weakness of the muscles of one side of the face. It is a relatively common peripheral nerve disorder and can affect people of all ages, but is most common between 15-45 years.
Many celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Anupam Kher, George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan suffered from Bell’s Palsy.
Under the right treatment most patients have good recovery, although some are left with residual weakness

Bell’s Palsy causes an acute paralysis of all facial muscles supplied by the seventh cranial nerve (facial nerve). It is always unilateral (one side) and involves upper and lower muscles of the face. At onset people may experiencing mild facial numbness as well. Other symptoms may include:

Bell’s palsy is, by definition, idiopathic, meaning without a specific cause. However, it seems to be associated with certain viral infections. Herpes virus (HSV-1) could be found in 80% of patients. Other viral infections include herpes zoster virus, mumps virus, rubella virus and HIV. Lyme disease has to be taken in consideration as well.

For an experienced neurologist, Bell’s Palsy is mainly a clinical diagnosis. If a virus infection is suspected, blood tests may be considered. If a central paralysis cannot be excluded, a MRI might be considered. To verify the diagnosis and to predict the outcome usually a NCV (nerve conducting velocity) is performed.

Usually the treatment of Bell’s Palsy is very effective and people have a good outcome. However, symptoms can worsen during the first days of treatment. Patients should be aware of this. The outcome of the treatment is better if the treatment is started early. Therapy may include the following:

Usually the outcome of Bell’s Palsy is good and most people recover within a few weeks. However, in 8% of the cases the paralysis is recurring.

• Good prognosis: partial paralysis

• Poor prognosis: Complete paralysis, loss of sense of taste after, pathology in the NCV test (nerve conducting velocity)

Most common complication of Bells Palsy are reinnervation problems. If the nerve is recovering and growing, it may by accident connect to other nerves resulting in malfunctions. This may include:

• Crocodile tears (crying while eating)

• Gustatory sweating (sweating while eating)

• Connection to chewing muscles (face twitching while eating)

Since more than ten years GNC is the leading clinic for Neurology in the UAE. All our Bell’s palsy experts are German Board Certified and have minimum professional experience of 25 years. If you are searching for the most trusted Bell’s palsy experts, you came to the right place.