Answer the questions below in the discussion forum:
Your patient recently had a viral infection and now she cannot move the muscles on the right side of her face. In addition, she is experiencing a loss of taste and dry mouth and she cannot close her right eye. Which cranial nerves have been affected by the viral infection?
Damage is spawned from the impotence to control the debilitated side of the face when a certain individual is diagnosed with facial paralysis. Facial nerve experiencing inflammation, specifically the Cranial Nerve VII, produces compression along the constrained section of the fallopian canal, which is most likely its point of origination (Jackson et al., 1980).
All of the facial muscles' sensation and action are controlled by the seventh cranial nerve. According to UT Southwestern Medical Center (2022), the aforesaid facial nerve is the commander in the empire of the face which produces stimulation for:
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the facial muscle that moves the face;
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glands that produces tears;
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the little ear muscle in-charge of muzzling some noises;
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tongue's taste organ; and
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sensation in a small area of the ear's skin
Therefore, weakness will be an asset in its blueprint of impairment. Conforming to the statement, inability to move one or both sides of the face due to damage in this nerve can impair a one's ability to blink, speak, eat, and show emotion through facial expression.
References:
Jackson et al. (1980). FACIAL PARALYSIS OF NEOPLASTIC ORIGIN: DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1288/00005537-198010000-00001
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2022). Facial Paralysis Causes. https://utswmed.org/conditions-treatments/facial-paralysis/facial-paralysis-causes/