Signs or Symptoms
Most common symptoms include acute paralysis or weakness on the one side of the face, facial droop, difficulty with facial expressions, facial stiffness, loss of taster or changes in your production of tears and saliva.
Description
Bell’s palsy is a weakness, or paralysis, of the muscles that control expression on one side of your face. This results from damage to a facial nerve, one of which runs beneath each ear, near your jaw joint, to the muscles on the same side of the face.
Causes
The cause of Bell’s palsy is unknown although many times credited to an infection of the nerve.
Standard Treatment
The standard treatment is to prescribe a corticosteroid medication and to give time for the nerve to heal.
AK Approach
The nerve that is involved exits the skull near the jaw joint. Imbalances in the bones of the skull or contractions in the muscles of the jaw can cause excessive pressure on this nerve and lead to this condition. Testing is done to determine if there are any imbalances in the motion of the cranial bones or in the functioning of the muscles where the nerve exits. If these are found, very specific corrections are done to remove this stress. Nutritional testing is done to ascertain if there are imbalances that would speed the healing of the nerve.