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Symptoms

Pain in the temples and/or neck. Only one side is generally affected. There is pain, weakness, and a sensation of pricking, tingling, or creeping on the skin. One side of the face can droop.

Causes

Bell's palsy is a type of paralysis characterized by distortion of the face, due to a lesion of the facial nerve.

It may be caused by injury, irritation of a sensory nerve, or nerve root. A decayed tooth may be the cause. Chilling of the face at night while one is sleeping can also produce it; the blood has been chilled back from the area. Sometimes Bell's palsy follows a respiratory infection.

Bell's palsy is often mistaken for a stroke, because it comes on suddenly and results in numbness and partial, or total, loss of muscular control on the affected side. But it is not a stroke.

Treated properly, there can be as much as 80% chance of significant recovery-all those with partial palsy and three fourths of those with complete palsy recover with no treatment of any kind. Because most of those with this problem recover spontaneously, they should not be given drugs or surgery.

But severe taste impairment and/or reduced tearing of the eyes are bad signs, especially in older people.

Bell's palsy can occur in anyone at any age, but most frequently occurs between 20 and 40, often in the summer months (especially August). The younger the person is the more likely he will have a full recovery.

Treatments

• See "Neuralgia" for detailed information.

• Take B12 (1000 mcg day) for a total of 20,000 mcg; also calcium (2,000 mg day), magnesium (800 mg day), and essential fatty acids.

• Make sure, when you go to bed at night, that you do not sleep so that a decided current of cold air is blowing across your uncovered face while the rest of your body is covered under the blankets. When this happens, the chilled part does not receive adequate rest. A nerve in the face or neck can become chilled and cause problems.

• Apply warm, wet washcloths twice a day, for 20 minutes at a time, to relieve pain and tenseness. Follow with gentle massage both backward and upward.

• Apply pure water to the affected eye 4 times a day, to keep it moist and free from dust. Wearing sunglasses will reduce evaporation from that eye. Occasionally close that eye with the finger, to rest it. Wear an eye patch at night to protect it.

• A few days later, as the muscles begin functioning again, he should exercise his facial muscles: Standing before a mirror, wrinkle the forehead, close the affected eye, purse the lips, move the mouth to one side and then the other, blow out the cheeks, and try to whistle.

• Until the problem clears up, place charcoal poultices over the weakened nerve area at night, and maintain a low-salt diet. This will help eliminate fluid released by the nerve.

• Prednisone is a drug often given, but it has negative side effects.

-Bell's palsy is a form of neuralgia; see "Neuralgia" for additional helpful information.

This page was last modified on 2 December 2010, at 02:06.

URL: http://naturalencyclopedia.com/Bell's_Palsy

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