Paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face is due to inflammation of the facial nerve that controls the movements of these muscles.
The weakness makes half of the face look droopy; usually in most cases this weakness is temporary and improves significantly as time goes by.
- Local heat: hot-humid compress for 10 minutes on the affected side of the face, to improve circulation.
- Electrotherapy: although there is controversy regarding its use and effectiveness, since the motor point of the muscle is stimulated and not the nerve.
- Muscular re-education in front of the mirror: the main actions are aimed at achieving the correct functioning of the occlusion of the eye and mouth. We must distinguish:
Initial stage
It is characterized by asymmetry at rest, minimal voluntary movements. Absence of synkinesis and severe functional damage. They will be carried out:
Assisted active exercises: the patient is helped by the index and middle fingers placed on the muscle to be worked in the direction of the desired movement, holding them for a few seconds on the affected side of the face.
Raise the involved eyebrow with your fingers and hold it for a few seconds. Manual assistance will progressively decrease according to muscle recovery.
- Active exercises: digital pressure is removed and work is requested in the following order: frontal, superciliary, levator labia superioris, canine, buccinator, tassel and square of the beard, triangular of the lips, cutaneous of the neck and finally the zygomatics.
Examples of exercises:
- Contract the lips as if to give a kiss (orbicularis oris and compressor)
- Dilate the wing of the nose to raise the upper lip and show the teeth (dilator of the nose, canine, elevator of the upper lip).
- Expel air slowly, like blowing through a straw (Buccinator, zygomaticus major, zygomaticus minor)
- Wide smile directing the lip corner out and back (Risorio)
- Clench your teeth as hard as possible (Cutaneous of the neck, triangular of the lips)
- Chin wrinkling (Myrtiformis, beard square, beard tassel)
- Raise the eyebrows (Occipitofrontal)
- Gather the eyebrows (Ciliary)
- Close the eyes (Orbicularis oculi)
