A cousin from my hometown suddenly called me at five in the morning. He sounded very anxious. He said that when he woke up, he found his mouth was drooling, his eyebrows were high and the other was low, and his eyes were drooping. I can’t seem to close it, so I took a picture and sent it to me. What he worries most is that he won’t have a stroke at a young age. He doesn’t usually have high blood pressure, so how could there be a stroke without warning. After listening to his description and looking at the photos, I estimated that he should have facial paralysis. To be on the safe side, I suggested that he see a doctor as soon as possible, have a brain CT, and go to the local hospital for examination. It turned out to be facial paralysis.
What is Facial Paralysis?
Generalized facial paralysis includes central facial paralysis and peripheral facial paralysis. Central facial paralysis refers to facial paralysis caused by craniocerebral diseases, usually with skewed corners of the mouth and even limb hemiplegia. Today we are talking about peripheral facial paralysis. Peripheral facial paralysis, also known as facial nerve palsy, facial neuritis, is a facial muscle paralysis caused by non-specific inflammation of the facial nerve within the stylomastoid foramen. Facial nerve palsy is abrupt onset, mostly unilateral, mainly manifested as facial expression muscle paralysis, disappearance of forehead lines, inability to wrinkle forehead and frown, inability to close or incomplete closure of eyes, and crooked corners of the mouth. Some patients have symptoms 1-2 days before onset Persistent pain behind the affected ear and tenderness in the mastoid (the bulge at the back of the ear).
Spring is the season of high incidence of facial paralysis
Facial paralysis occurs all year round, but spring is the season of high incidence of facial paralysis. The reason is the changeable climate in early spring, alternating hot and cold, and active viruses. Once the patient is overtired, emotionally fluctuated, and irregular in their daily routine, the body will have a weakened immune system, and those latent viruses will begin to wait for the opportunity to attack the facial nerves. resulting in facial paralysis. In addition, facial paralysis may also be induced if the face is exposed to cold stimulation or heavy drinking for a long time.
Some people think that facial paralysis is a small problem that can be cured without treatment if raised at home. It is true that facial paralysis has a certain self-healing property. Some patients with facial paralysis with good constitution and relatively mild symptoms can also self-heal without treatment, but nearly 30% of patients will have sequelae such as hemifacial spasm. Seriously affect daily life, so it should still be active and treated as soon as possible. For patients with early facial paralysis, most of them advocate drug (antiviral, neurotrophic) and traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture, physiotherapy, manual massage) treatment. After treatment, symptoms usually improve in about 2 weeks, and no sequelae can be left after active treatment.
Some elderly people with a history of hypertension and arteriosclerosis think it is a stroke if they have a skewed corner of the mouth. In fact, the key difference between central facial paralysis and peripheral facial paralysis caused by stroke is to see if there is any With ocular dysfunction. Stroke is not accompanied by ocular dysfunction, but there may be limb hemiplegia. That is to say, if the corners of the mouth are crooked, and you cannot frown, frown, or close your eyes, and you have no limb hemiplegia, and your mental state is good, then it is basically peripheral facial paralysis, not a stroke. At this time, you don’t have to be too nervous, and you can recover through timely treatment such as acupuncture and moxibustion.