【Medical Q&A】What are the common symptoms of facial paralysis? How to treat it?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Fan Dongsheng, Chief Physician, Peking University Third Hospital

Common clinical symptoms of facial paralysis include: paralysis of facial expression muscles on the affected side; shallow or disappearance of forehead wrinkles, widening of palpebral fissures, shallow or disappearance of nasolabial grooves, drooping of the corners of the mouth; more obvious drooping of the corners of the mouth and facial crookedness when smiling or showing teeth; the affected side cannot frown, frown, close eyes, inflate, or purse the lips; when inflating cheeks and whistling, air leaks because the lips on the affected side cannot close; when eating, food residues often remain in the tooth-cheek gap on the affected side, and saliva often flows out of that side; patients may also experience hearing changes, taste loss in the front 2/3 of the tongue, and saliva and tear gland secretion disorders. These symptoms may exist alone or in combination.

Many people panic when they wake up and find that they have facial paralysis. In fact, more than 90% of facial paralysis can be cured, especially peripheral facial paralysis. The key is early detection and early treatment.

The treatment principle of peripheral facial paralysis is to promote the early disappearance of local inflammation and edema and the early recovery of nerve function. Commonly used drugs include antiviral drugs, nerve nutrition drugs, glucocorticoids and B vitamins. Clinical experience has shown that the effect will be better if drug treatment is used as early as possible in the early stage of the disease and acupuncture treatment is actively performed at the same time.