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?
- Due to the patient's inability to move the muscles on the right side of hh, she is believed to be diagnosed with Bell's palsy. The cranial nerve affected by this is the 7th cranial nerve, known as the facial nerve. This nerve controls the contraction of skeletal muscles of the face, tear gland, secretion of the salivary gland, and conveying sensory impulses from the tongue's taste buds.