Paresis of the facial nerve

Unilateral impairment of motor functions, impaired passage of nerve impulses and weakness of facial muscles due to facial nerve lesion is a paresis of the facial nerve. This disease of the facial nerve is also called paralysis of the facial nerve and belongs to the category of neurological diseases. The paresis of the nerve is characterized by asymmetry and immobility of half of the face. Thus the patient can not smile, experiences difficulties during conversation, can not open one eye without problems. This disease of the facial nerve is a complication of chronic or acute otitis media. The paresis of this nerve is approximately 2% of all complications of acute otitis media and 4% of chronic otitis media.

Symptoms of facial nerve paresis

The following symptoms occur in a patient with this facial nerve disorder. When the eyebrows are raised, the skin folds on the forehead are not formed. One eye does not close completely. The angle of the mouth remains fixed, and the tip of the nose is asymmetric. A nasolabial fold is smoothed in a person. The angle of the mouth is lowered, so when you smile, your face is twisted.

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As there are additional branches of other cranial nerves in the facial nerve, at times the patient has taste qualities in the front 2/3 of the tongue. Also in patients there is increased salivation, dry eyeball, paracosis phenomena( this is a greater perception in noisy conversation situations).

Causes and factors of facial nerve paresis

Paresis of this nerve can appear as an independent disease or as a sign of the inflammatory process, which became its primary cause( primary or idiopathic and secondary paresis).

The most common cause of this disease is neuritis - inflammation and, as a result, a nerve swelling. Neuritis can also have as an infectious origin( for example, herpes zoster virus, etc.), and non-infectious origin.

In addition to neuritis, the causes of paresis of the facial nerve may be a violation of the blood supply to the facial nerve or centers of the cerebral cortex( this is ischemic disease), nerve trauma, and tumors.

Factors that contribute to the development of neuritis, mainly refers to hypothermia - the effects of cold( external).In addition, this disease can occur against a stroke( complication of hypertension), diabetes. Also on the background of treatment of multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, surgical intervention in dentistry.

Depending on the cause that caused the paresis of this nerve, treatment in integrated medicine is aimed at restoring the nervous tissues and eliminating the cause of the disease.

What is the treatment for facial nerve paresis

In the treatment of this disease, recovery of facial nerve functions occurs in most cases slowly enough, up to 6 months. Treatment is medicated together with physiotherapy and special massage.

With acute otitis media, active dehydration and anti-inflammatory therapy is always prescribed to the patient in order to reduce the swelling of the trunk of the facial nerve. It is very important that there is a good outflow of pus from the tympanic cavity. For this purpose, paracentesis is mandatory. If there is no tendency to improve during the treatment, then the autopsy of the cells of the mastoid process is used by specialists.

When paresis of the nerve occurs in the late stages of acute otitis media( on days 15-20), as a rule, it is a consequence of toxic neuritis and mastoiditis of the descending part of the facial nerve. In this case, the mastoidotomy is urgently done.

When this disease of the facial nerve is sufficiently persistent, which is rare enough, there is a need for a complex operation - decompression of the nerve in the bone channel.

Also carried out and plastic surgery for this disease( dynamic and static) on the skin, tendons and facial muscles, in order to replace the function of paralyzed muscles by reducing the cosmetic defect.