What is, Bells Palsy

Bell’s palsy is a form of temporary facial paralysis resulting from damage or trauma to one of the two facial nerves. It is the most common cause of facial paralysis. Generally, Bell’s palsy affects only one of the paired facial nerves and …

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/bells/bells.htm#What_is

Bell’s palsy is a paralysis of cranial nerve VII (the facial nerve) resulting in inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause a facial paralysis, e.g. , brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. Howeve…

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Bell’s_Palsy

Bell’s palsy is a temporary weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face. These muscles are controlled by the facial nerve. Because there’s a facial nerve on each side of a person’s face, and Bell’s palsy usually affects jus…

http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/brain_nervous/bells_palsy.html

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

How often is Bells Palsy a symptom of lyme disease? How accurate are blood tests for lyme disease?

Q: My son was put on steroids after being diagnosed with bells palsy. Since he was bite by a deer tick 5 months before any symptoms I am worried he has lyme disease. The blood test was completed and came out negitive. Could the steroids have caused a false negitive?

A: aaargh!! DEB- FIRST, TAKE YOUR KID OFF ALL STEROIDS UNTIL LYME DISEASE IS RULED OUT BY A QUALIFIED [LYME-LITERATE] DOCTOR!! Why? Steroid use can lead to PERMANENT neurological damage if the disease IS present & allowed to get into places where it normally couldn’t, due to the local immune-response suppression that steroids cause. {sigh} PLEASE take heed of this warning.Now… Bells Palsy is not a “common” symptom but not rare either, though it occurs more in children, and especially when the bite is in the head/ neck area. As far as the accuracy of Blood tests for Lyme, they are woefully inadequate & miss ABOUT 1/2 the actual cases of Lyme. (I hate having to repeat this over & over, but do some research. It’s sadly true.)Lyme disease remains a clinical diagnosis (see CDC & even IDSA guidelines). The typical ELISA test relies on the body’s ability to generate sufficient antibodies to the Lyme spirochete PIECES to be detected by the test. Sometimes there aren’t enough…for various reasons.Finally, steroids can suppress immune response, but I haven’t heard that they particularily interfere with the common blood tests for Lyme. (Oh… and My neurological Lyme symptoms started 4 months after the tick bite. A very common period of time, as I understand.)

What is Bells Palsy and how can it be treated and cured?

Q: I just got word that one of my relatives has been diagnosed with Bells Palsy. I know very little about this condition? What are the syptoms? How can one get better? How can a doctor help? What are the long range challenges? Can one still have a quality of life? Is this cureable and if not how can this condition be managed.

A: Bells Palsy is chacterized by lack of muscular control on one side of the face. it’s caused by a malfunction of the facial nerve. Someone with bells palsy might have problems smiling completely, or it might look like one side of their face doesn’t move. If you’ve ever seen batman, imagine “two-face”. It’s completely painless, and is sometimes more of just an annoyance than a real problem.There’s still a big debate about what causes it, but some studies indicate that EBV (the virus that causes mono), Herpes and Lyme disease might be a cause. Generally it tends to go away on it’s own in a few weeks to a few months. There are not many treatments for this. I generally tell my patients to wait a month and see how it goes, unless it’s severe and they have problems eating and such. Then i usually prescribe steroid medications.It shouldn’t affect the quality of someone. They might drool a bit at first, or have some problems eating, but they should get used to it very soon. As I said, symptoms generally disappear within a few weeks to a few months

Can Bells Palsy be caused from an absessed tooth?

Q: I was told today that I have Bells Palsy.. Over the last two weeks I had an absessed tooth that was very painful, it stopped hurting. Than four days ago my tongue went numb on the right side, than my right side of my mouth, than my right eye and nostril.. I am wondering if it is from my tooth? The tooth is on the right side!

A: If you had an abscessed tooth and did not get treatment for the infection then you might have inflamation in the nerve now that is causing the Palsy. You should see your dentist and your Dr. again so that infection can be treated befor it goes into the jaw bone. If you thought the abscess was painful ….