Bell’s Palsy- How It Affects Your Eyes?

Are you facing difficulty in the movement of your eyelid? Have you heard about Bell’s palsy? It appears similar to a stroke. When the seventh cranial nerve known as facial nerve suffers paralysis or temporary weakness, it is referred as Bell’s palsy. It can occur slowly or even all of a sudden. Usually, it happens suddenly. The facial nerve that travels from the brain to face gets affected in Bell’s Palsy. This nerve is responsible for facial expressions, controls eyelid movement, and also the muscles of the neck and forehead. 

Cause of Bell’s Palsy

When Bell’s palsy strikes you, it substantially affects one side of the face. Usually, the cause is unknown, but certain viruses like herpes zoster and herpes simplex are associated with it. 

It is also linked to diabetes, Lyme disease, sarcoidosis, infections, illness, viral infection, and trauma to the skull or face.

Effects of Bell’s palsy On Eyes

The disease makes it difficult for you to blink on the side that is affected by it. As the eye doesn’t blink normally, it becomes moist because enough tears are not spread. This results in making eye dehydrated, which in turn begins the formation of dry spots. The eye becomes dry and inflamed, increasing chances of keratitis. It occurs when the cornea is continuously exposed to moisture. The condition can worsen if left untreated. Your eyes can develop ulceration, scarring, and can even cause blindness.

Your lower eyelid also turns outward, and your face and lips become droopy; leaving you with no or at times little control on the functioning of muscles. You won’t observe any difficulty while opening the eye. The problem occurs when you try to close it; this, in turn, gives you a dry eye. You can also experience excessive tearing and blurred vision.

Common Symptoms of Bell’s Palsy

• Face numbness on one side
• Dry mouth and eye
• Drooling
• Excessive Tearing
• Difficulty while drinking and eating
• Headaches
• Pain around ear and jaw
• Difficulty in smiling on the affected side
• Troubled speaking
• Blurry vision
• Sagging of mouth corner

Treatment

It is advised to see your doctor when you observe any of the symptoms. Most of the times, the symptom improves with time without any major treatment.

When you visit your doctor, they will treat you with ocular lubricants like eye ointments or artificial tears. To get the outwardly turned eyelid back in position, Dr. Azzidadeh performs the surgery in a highly professional manner. 

With extreme care, you get recovered in a period of six months. But you can suffer from scarring of eye’s clear front and corneal ulceration if proper care is not taken.

If facial nerve paralysis is permanent, then continuous lubrication of the eye is recommended by the doctor. Rewiring of paralyzed muscles is also done with surgery.

Physical therapies under guidance also help in improving the symmetry of facial functions. Oral medications reduce drooping lids and eyelid spasms.

Discuss all your concerns and other health-related issues with your doctor. This will enable them to develop an effective plan for your treatment, avoiding any further health complications. 

Risks Associated With The Treatment And Surgery

If the effects of surgery wear off with time, then repeating the surgery becomes necessary. 

Bleeding and infection are the other risks that are usually associated with any surgery. If you are taking some blood thinners, it is necessary to inform your doctor, otherwise, bleeding complications can increase during the surgery.

To eliminate the risks or any health issues, it is necessary to follow all the medications and guidelines of your doctor.