A. Affected Muscles
- Buccinator (action: assists in mastication, presses cheek against lips and teeth as in blowing, draws corner of mouth laterally)
- Platysma (action: draws outer part of lower lip inferiorly and posteriorly as in pouting)
- Orbicularis oris (action: closes and protrudes lips and shapes lips during speech)
- Orbicularis oculi (action: closes the eye)
- Frontalis (action: draws scalp anteriorly, raises eyebrows, and wrinkles skin of forehead)
B. Mechanism
Facial paralysis or drooping results from damage or disease of facial (VII) nerve. Causes include inflammation of the facial nerve due to an ear infection, ear surgery that damages the facial nerve, or infection by the herpes simplex virus.
C. Other Symptoms
- Drooling
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Dry eyes
- Facial or ear pain
- Loss of taste