Bells Palsy happens to be quite a nasty disorder, yet fortunately is not fatal such as other diseases including cancer and AIDS. The basic premise of the disorder is that it weakens the muscles which control the face, meaning that the afflicted person has a very hard time making facial expressions, eating and drinking, not to mention the less pleasant effects such as uncontrolled drooling and involuntary twitches in the facial muscles. In other words, the person affected by this condition simply loses control and all sensation in one half of their face. It is actually quite easy to identify the symptoms of Bells Palsy as they include a drooping eyebrow as well as a drooping corner of the mouth, not to mention a smoothing of the forehead.
Bells Palsy Causes
In order to effectively treat Bells Palsy, you must first understand what it is and what causes it. There are a few different factors which can contribute to the onset of Bells Palsy, but usually it stems from a damaged seventh cranial or facial nerve, which happens in most cases due to swelling and inflammation. As said before, a variety of factors can contribute to it and it is hard to pinpoint the exact Bells Palsy causes, but there are some things which can contribute to its development, some more than others. Some of the conditions which will accelerate the development include Herpes Zoster, and HIV infection, Sarcoidosis, Middle Ear Infection and Lyme disease.
If you are starting to feel as if you are losing some control over your facial muscles and believe that you may have Bells Palsy, then you should definitely have your doctor perform a full physical scan on you as soon as possible, as well as a CT and an MRI. Why go through all this trouble? Well, as said before, while the main cause remains a damaged nerve, there are certainly some other things which can cause it, not to mention that the presence of Bells Palsy may very well be an indicator of some health problems and may possibly lead to various complications if allowed to go untreated long enough. For example, if the palsy is caused by a brain tumor, or if you are actually having a stroke (the symptoms of a stroke are very similar to those of Bells Palsy) then you are going to need to know about it as soon as possible so that you can act. Otherwise, that tumor may just keep developing or that stroke may finally do its bidding, leaving you either dead or paralyzed, neither of which is a very welcoming scenario.
If you have been diagnosed with Bells Palsy, then certainly don’t start to panic as it is not the end of the world. There is a large variety of treatments which exist for this condition, and fortunately some of them have been proven to actually yield conclusive results; while Bells Palsy is indeed quite dangerous and may lead to complications, it is not fatal, as long as its treated in time.