Facial Paralysis

Facial paralysis, the inability to move the facial muscles on one or both sides, can be caused by various factors such as congenital conditions, traumatic injuries, nerve damage, or diseases like brain tumors, stroke, or Bell’s palsy. The noticeable drooping of facial features and potential impact on activities like blinking, swallowing, speaking, and eating can be distressing. Moreover, the inhibition of natural facial expressions, including smiling or frowning, can be emotionally challenging. However, early treatment of facial paralysis can often correct the problem.

Causes of Facial Paralysis

Bell’s palsy is the most common cause of facial paralysis. An inflammation of the seventh cranial nerve, which controls facial muscles, triggers Bell’s palsy. The condition may be caused by a viral infection or stress, or it may have no known cause. Most cases of Bell’s palsy resolve independently after a few months. However, the symptoms are remarkedly similar to those of a stroke, which is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition, so you should always have any facial paralysis checked by Dr. Ducic or your family doctor to determine the cause.

Other potential causes of facial paralysis include:

  • Ramsay Hunt Syndrome: This is the second most common cause of facial paralysis after Bell’s palsy. It occurs when the herpes zoster virus (which causes chicken pox and shingles) is reactivated in the facial nerve, triggering facial paralysis, severe ear pain, and a rash on one side of the face.
  • Stroke: A life-threatening condition caused by a bleed in the brain.
  • Skull fracture: Brain bleeding, paralysis, infection, pain, and brain damage are also concerns with a skull fracture.
  • Tumors: Head, neck, or brain tumors may cause facial paralysis if they press against specific nerves. Even a benign brain tumor can affect your facial muscles.
  • Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A rare disease that damages the peripheral nervous system, causing paralysis of the extremities or facial muscles.

Symptoms of Facial Paralysis

If you have any of the following symptoms, it is essential to see your doctor or Dr. Ducic for diagnosis and treatment:

  • Weakness or paralysis (inability to move) on one or both sides of the face. This can occur over hours or days.
  • Drooping facial features.
  • Inability to open or close eyes, smile, or otherwise make facial expressions.
  • Drooling.
  • Pain around the jaw
  • Pain in or around the ear on the same side as the paralysis
  • Sensitivity to sound
  • Headaches
  • Loss of taste
  • Excessive tearing or lack of tear

Diagnosis and Treatment of Facial Paralysis

Dr. Ducic, a renowned specialist in facial paralysis, evaluates patients based on a thorough assessment of their symptoms, medical history, and nerve conduction tests. His extensive experience and expertise ensure that the treatment plan is tailored to the individual patient, considering the cause of the paralysis, the severity of the condition, and the potential for symptom resolution or permanence.

In most cases, facial paralysis resolves on its own. If it becomes permanent, Dr. Ducic may be able perform facial paralysis surgery, or facial reanimation surgery, in which he uses muscles and nerves from other areas of the body to restore function to the lower half of the face. This is crucial for restoring facial expressions to patients, offering hope for a normal life even after the condition becomes permanent.

Nerve transfers are an advanced surgical technique in which Dr. Ducic reinnervates the facial muscles by transferring nerves from another area to restore lost feeling in the paralyzed area. Timing is crucial for this procedure’s success. The sooner Dr. Ducic can schedule and perform this procedure, the greater the chance of success.

Temporalis Tendon Transfer involves moving the muscle responsible for chewing to a different position so that it aids in lifting a drooping mouth. The surgery takes less than an hour and allows patients to smile without drooling.

Gracilis Muscle Transplant, sometimes called Free Flap surgery, uses a portion of the gracilis muscle from the inner thigh to replace the paralyzed facial muscles. This highly complex procedure requires two surgeries and a brief hospital stay but delivers superior results and a natural-looking smile.

If you have symptoms of facial paralysis or have been diagnosed with any of the diseases mentioned above and your paralysis is permanent, Dr. Ducic can help. Contact our office at Fort Worth Office Phone Number 817-920-0484 to schedule a consultation to discuss how he can restore your facial function.