Activity 4
Bien Troy B. Torres
This is patient AM, 28-year-old male who came in the ER because of drooping of his left face. He said he woke up and he could not move his left face.
He has no other muscle weakness. He is conscious and coherent although he had a little difficulty speaking because the left side of his lips drooped. He had normal blood pressure and he had no other co-morbidities. He was diagnosed to have Bell’s palsy. Name 5 muscles which are affected and list its actions. Describe the mechanism of his muscle weakness. What other symptoms could the patient exhibit as a result of facial muscle weakness?
The five muscles and their actions
- Buccinator - It compresses the cheeks against the teeth during whistling and mastication.
- Frontalis - It raises the eyebrows, moves up the scalp, and wrinkles the skin of the forehead horizontally.
- Platysma - It depresses the mandible and draws outer part of lower lip inferiorly and posteriorly.
- Orbicularis oculi - For closing the eyes and blinking.
- Orbicularis oris - It compresses, closes, and protrudes lips.
Mechanism of Muscle Weakness
Bell's palsy, also known as facial paralysis, is brought by the damage to the facial nerve or the VII nerve. It causes sudden weakness on one side of the face of an individual who acquires it.
Other symptoms
- Headache
- Loss of Taste
- Drooling
- Pain around the affected area
- Increased sensitivity in the said area