ACTIVITY 4

RAZ, Allyza Joyce V. - Activity 4

RAZ, Allyza Joyce V. - Activity 4

by Allyza Joyce Raz -
Number of replies: 0

Bell's palsy is also known as acute peripheral facial palsy of unknown cause. It can occur at any age. The exact cause is unknown. 

 

Five (5) muscles affected:

  1. Frontalis Muscle:

  • Action: Responsible for raising the eyebrows and wrinkles the forehead.

Orbicularis Oculi Muscle:

  • Action: This closes the eyelids tightly (blinking), squinting, and helps in tear drainage.

Zygomaticus Major Muscle:

  • Action: It raises the corner of the mouth, contributing to smiling.

Orbicularis Oris Muscle:

  • Action: This muscle is responsible for closing and protruding the lips (puckering).

Buccinator Muscle:

  • Action: It compresses the cheeks inward (used in activities like blowing air and whistling).

 

Mechanism of his muscle weakness:

  • Compression of the seventh cranial nerve at the geniculate ganglion is hypothesized to cause bell palsy. The labyrinthine section, the first part of the facial canal, is the narrowest and where compression most frequently occurs.

  • The geniculate ganglion of the facial nerve, which is housed within the temporal bone, is compressed in Bell's palsy, particularly in its constrained labyrinthine portion. Bell's palsy patients' facial muscles are weak or paralyzed as a result of the compression and ensuing inflammation impeding the nerve impulses' ability to reach them.



Other symptoms the could exhibit as a result of facial weakness:

  • Rapid onset of mild weakness to total paralysis on one side of your face — occurring within hours to days

  • Facial droop and difficulty making facial expressions, such as closing your eye or smiling

  • Drooling

  • Pain around the jaw or in or behind your ear on the affected side

  • Increased sensitivity to sound on the affected side

  • Headache

  • A loss of taste

  • Changes in the amount of tears and saliva you produce

 

 

REFERENCE:

Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2017). Principles of anatomy & physiology. Fifteenth edition; Wiley Loose-Leaf Print Companion. Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, May 4). Bell’s Palsy. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bells-palsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20370028 

 

Bell Palsy - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf. (n.d.). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482290/