Bell's palsy can impact everyone
Scouting around one of my favorite websites, Kidhealth.org, seeking a subject for this week, I came across the subject of Bell’s palsy. I was surprised.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother had this facial nerve paralysis and, of course, since my grandmother was old (aren’t they all?) I assumed it only happened to the elderly.
But a little more research uncovered that, according to the National Institutes of Health, 40,000 Americans are afflicted each year. Occurring equally among men and women it is less common for children under 15 or adults over 60, but it can happen.
Rough guess is that Grandma was in her late 50s when we went to visit her and discovered that her usually chubby cheeks were sagging on one side, her mouth was hanging crookedly and her left eye was unable to blink.
Kidshealth description says, “When the facial nerve is working properly, it carries a host of messages from the brain to the face. These messages may tell an eyelid to close, one side of the mouth to smile or frown, or salivary glands to make spit. But if the nerve swells and is compressed, as happens with Bell’s palsy, these messages don’t get sent correctly. The result is weakness or temporary paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face.”
Named for Sir Charles Bell, a Scottish surgeon and professor of medicine who lived in the 19th century and first described the condition, it’s most often connected with a viral infection. The virus that causes cold sores, the one that causes mononucleosis, or the one that causes the flu can be the culprit as can ear infections, bad colds, the infectious agent that causes Lyme disease and/or trauma to the head or face.
Kids may not even feel sick before Bell’s palsy hits. And it hits quickly perhaps starting with a pain in front or in back of the ear that lasts a few hours or even days prior to the weakness setting in. Because Bell’s palsy only affects one nerve at a time, it only affects one side of the face.
Symptoms may include “a feeling as though one side of the face is ‘twisting’ or ‘tugging’ (this is caused by the healthy side making facial expressions — the muscles pull on the weak side).”
Other symptoms for Bell’s palsy are headache, inability to taste or to make saliva, sounds seeming louder than normal, difficulty closing one eye causing it to water, twitch or to become dry or irritated.
Should you seek medical attention? Yes. Although symptoms of having a stroke may affect facial muscles, it’s usually just the lower half of the face, and weakness will occur in the arms and legs as well. However, you will want to rule that option out immediately.
“Usually, the virus or infection that leads to Bell’s palsy has passed, so there’s no specific treatment used for the condition,” Kidshealth continues.
“It goes away once the swelling of the nerve goes down and the nerve recovers from any damage it caused. The nerve has to renew itself and that can only happen with time.”
Most people fully recover within one to three months with or without treatment and it’s very unusual for anyone to get it a second time. Eat well, get plenty of rest, but there is no advantage to curtailing exercise, just be sure to protect the eye.
We were instructed (threatened) not to make fun of Grandma’s looks while she was afflicted. Explain to your child that it is just a matter of a little time before his or her face will be back to normal and explain the condition to siblings and friends so they can be a support team.
Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.