FACIAL PALSY CENTER
OF NEW YORK
Why Does Facial Paralysis Occur?
Among the many causes of facial paralysis including stroke, the necessary cutting of the facial due to tumor surgery, or from laceration, or injury of the cheek; fractures of the skull that crush the facial nerve; viral infections including Lyme Disease, and Herpes Zoster that cause swelling of the facial nerve in the bony canal in the skull; acoustic neuroma surgery, mastoid bone surgery, and parotid gland surgery for tumors of the facial nerve.
In children, brainstem tumors, or birth defects such as hemi-facial microsomia and Mobius Syndrome, where the facial nerve and/or its nucleus fails to develop, are causes of facial palsy.
What is facial paralysis?
Facial paralysis, or palsy, refers to the partial, or total loss of function of the muscles of facial expression that are served by the facial nerve. These muscles are the ones that create a smile, purse your lips to kiss, prevent drooling when you eat, close your eyes, and lift your eyebrows.
Most people are familiar with facial paralysis that is caused by a stroke, or by Bell’s Palsy where there is a drooping of the face and forehead, and a loss of normal movements of the face nerves. Treatments are uniquely formulated for each patient’s particular case.