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5 affected muscles:
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Frontalis
Action: Elevates the eyebrows and wrinkles the forehead
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Orbicularis oculi
Action: Closes the eye
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Orbicularis oris
Action: closes and protrudes lips, compresses lips against teeth, shapes lips during speech
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Buccinator
Action: Presses checks against teeth and lips, draws corner of mouth laterally
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Platysma
Action: Draws outer part of lip inferiorly and posteriorly; depresses the mandible
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Description of mechanism:
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Bell’s Palsy is thought to be caused by the irritation of the nerve which controls the facial muscles on one side. It temporarily weakens or paralyzes facial muscles and symptoms often improve in a few months without treatment.
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Other symptoms as a result of facial muscle weakness:
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Difficulty in speech and chewing
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Difficulty closing the eye
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Dry irritated eyes
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Drooling