Muscles Affected:
- Buccinator - Presses cheeks against teeth and lips, as in whistling, blowing, and sucking
- Platysma -Draws outer part of lower lip inferiorly and posteriorly as in pouting
- Frontalis - Draws scalp anteriorly, raises eyebrows,and wrinkles skin of forehead horizontally
- Orbicularis oculi - closes eye
- Orbicularis oris - loses and protrudes lips, as in kissing;
Bell's Palsy
- The mechanism occurs when there is an inflammation or swelling of the seventh cranial nerve. Viral infections may cause this inflammation, but most cases have no clear cause.
Symptoms of Facial Muscle Weakness
- Increased sensitivity to sound on the affected side
- Headache
- A loss of taste
- Rapid onset of mild weakness to total paralysis on one side of your face
- Drooling
- Pain around the jaw or in or behind your ear on the affected side
- Changes in the amount of tears and saliva you produce
Cleveland Clinic (n.d.). Bell’s Palsy. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/5457-bells-palsy
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#:~:text=The%20exact%20cause%20is%20unknown,recovery%20in%20about%20six%20months.
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2017). Principles of anatomy and physiology (15th ed.). Wiley Custom Learning Solutions. https://handoutset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Principles-of-anatomy-and-physiology-Wiley-2017-Derrickson-Bryan-H._-Tortora-Gerard-J..pdf