Facial paralysis / weakness in the facial nerve and muscles

Perhaps you're just feeling stiff from the cold weather.
It is also quite possible that you were dealing with a draft.
Or maybe you've irritated a nerve in your spine.
Why not go see a doctor? I am certain they will be able to diagnose the issue quickly and prescribe something to help.🤷

If it’s facial paralysis—and if I remember right from when my dad dealt with it (he basically woke up one morning with half his face totally numb)—then you definitely shouldn't get hit with the cold. I guess you should wrap your face up really well before heading outside. And maybe go see a doctor ASAP?

If the strength on the side of your face where the lip is drooping is the same as the other side, you aren't looking at a stroke; it's more likely nerve inflammation, specifically Facialis.
Don't play games with this—get to a doctor immediately. At the very least, call your physician and ask. They won't be mad. Or just call an urgent care center; they’ll probably tell you to head straight to the ER anyway.

Good luck.

Thanks so much, you guys have been a huge help. If I don't feel better by tomorrow, I'm heading to the doctor. Should I try putting some kind of compress on it, or just leave it alone? Oh, I forgot to mention one thing... I can't even close my eye easily. Basically, the whole right side is totally blocked.

@velvetgull9...do you happen to know how long that usually lasts?

I was thinking, if you aren't feeling even remotely better by 6 PM tonight... honestly, don't even bother waiting until tomorrow morning. Just bundle up warm and head straight to the ER right now. You really don't want to mess around with this kind of thing...

Maybe go see the doctor today, or at least give them a call.

It took my dad forever to deal with this and he never really got over it—I can't remember every single detail since it was so long ago, but if I recall correctly, they messed up his treatment at first. But honestly, that was when he was in his mid-50s, and you're way younger, so your body probably bounces back much faster.

Dear vividdriver22,

The symptoms you described point toward peripheral facial nerve palsy. There are various reasons why this type of weakness occurs, though in many instances, the underlying cause remains elusive—which is why it’s often referred to as Bell's palsy.

It is critical to consult a doctor at the first sign of symptoms, just as other members have advised here. Getting a prompt diagnosis is essential to rule out anything serious and to get a treatment plan started immediately.

Recovery is highly individual. Some people see improvement within two weeks, while for others, it can take several months before all symptoms subside.

Please keep us posted on your diagnostic results.

Best regards. 🙂

edit: We have a dedicated thread regarding facial palsy here. Once the author confirms their diagnosis, I will merge this thread with that one.

So, I was at the hospital earlier

They diagnosed me with facial paralysis. I had a slightly more thorough exam and they asked a few questions
-Can you close your eye?... couldn't do it
-Can you hear out of your right ear?... yeah, I can
-Can you feel touch on the right side of your face?... I can

Then they asked if my ear was hurting, and I told them, "not really"

They were talking about keeping me hospitalized for a few days to get some injections, but it turns out that wasn't actually necessary. I can just swing by the hospital 2 or 3 times a day if needed

After that, I went for an eye exam on my right eye. My vision hasn't gotten any worse, so they just prescribed some drops... here’s what I ended up with

-Optive eye drops (10ml), which I need to use about 10 times a day
-Medrol 32mg tablets
-Virolex 200mg tablets
-And Controloc tablets for my stomach

The advice was to stay indoors for a week, avoid smoking during this time, and do some facial exercises

Thanks again everyone 🙂

Good luck!

Casey Perez10 said:Good luck!

Thanks 🙂

So, I've been on the meds and hitting the gym for two days now, but honestly, I’m seeing zero progress 🤷 or is it just one of those things where everything slowly starts falling into place eventually??

Nicholas Myers said:Dear vividdriver22,

The symptoms you described point toward peripheral facial nerve palsy. There are various reasons why this type of weakness occurs, though in many instances, the underlying cause remains elusive—which is why it’s often referred to as Bell's palsy.

It is critical to consult a doctor at the first sign of symptoms, just as other members have advised here. Getting a prompt diagnosis is essential to rule out anything serious and to get a treatment plan started immediately.

Recovery is highly individual. Some people see improvement within two weeks, while for others, it can take several months before all symptoms subside.

Please keep us posted on your diagnostic results.

Best regards. 🙂

edit: We have a dedicated thread regarding facial palsy here. Once the author confirms their diagnosis, I will merge this thread with that one.

yeah, it’s definitely no small thing. just hang in there, things will get better

I've already gone back to work, so I'm wondering—how long does a full recovery actually take? For me, it felt like a pretty mild case, so who knows!?!

About a year ago, I dealt with a pretty intense case of facial paralysis. It took maybe 3 to 6 months to recover, but honestly... it’s still not quite back to normal. To a stranger, you might not even notice it, but if you look closely... 😛then there's the constant fatigue, that weird muscle tension on one side of my face, and those crocodile tears.
Looking at the stats for Bell's palsy, about 15% of people end up with an incomplete recovery, and roughly 5% don't recover much at all, or just minimal improvement. Everything really hinges on how bad the nerve damage was right at the start. There are surgical options like nerve grafting, but doctors only recommend that if the paralysis is total. It’s a massive, complicated procedure with a lot of unknowns—you're looking at risks like losing hearing, messing up your balance, or even making the facial nerve damage worse. As I dug deeper into this, I realized that in all of America, there are only a handful of specialized clinics that actually perform these kinds of surgeries. Lately, though, people have been using something called a "silhouette lift" to try and get some facial symmetry back; they basically use special threads to tighten things up under local anesthesia. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s tried that... any recommendations for surgeons? Whether it's private practice or at major hospitals like Mercy Hospital...

@hiddentrucker3 - as far as I know, the only clinics around here actually doing thread lifts are and so it might be worth giving them a shout to see if they can handle a specific case like yours. who knows, maybe someone else started offering it recently, but honestly, I'm not sure

...

hiddentrucker3 said:About a year ago, I dealt with a pretty intense case of facial paralysis. It took maybe 3 to 6 months to recover, but honestly... it’s still not quite back to normal. To a stranger, you might not even notice it, but if you look closely... 😛then there's the constant fatigue, that weird muscle tension on one side of my face, and those crocodile tears.
Looking at the stats for Bell's palsy, about 15% of people end up with an incomplete recovery, and roughly 5% don't recover much at all, or just minimal improvement. Everything really hinges on how bad the nerve damage was right at the start. There are surgical options like nerve grafting, but doctors only recommend that if the paralysis is total. It’s a massive, complicated procedure with a lot of unknowns—you're looking at risks like losing hearing, messing up your balance, or even making the facial nerve damage worse. As I dug deeper into this, I realized that in all of America, there are only a handful of specialized clinics that actually perform these kinds of surgeries. Lately, though, people have been using something called a "silhouette lift" to try and get some facial symmetry back; they basically use special threads to tighten things up under local anesthesia. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s tried that... any recommendations for surgeons? Whether it's private practice or at major hospitals like Mercy Hospital...

You should head over to Mercy Hospital and ask for the ENT clinic. When you're setting up your appointment, try to make sure you get routed to someone who actually specializes in this stuff rather than just a general practitioner.
If they can't figure out a way to fix it themselves, you can always push them for advice on what the next steps should be or ask for a referral to another specialist clinic.

Hey, sorry if I'm digging up this old thread, I just couldn't find anything more recent, but I wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with something similar.

For as long as I can remember, I've had some kind of "glitch" when it comes to speaking; I'd constantly have people telling me they could barely make out what I was saying,
though honestly, even more people probably just stayed quiet because, let's be real, it’s way easier to just nod along and pretend you heard them than to admit you didn't understand a word.

So, maybe I've finally stumbled upon the reason why my speech always sounds so muddled—or maybe I'm just being a total hypochondriac—but a few months back, I realized I physically can't perform one relatively simple mouth movement. My lips will move down to the left or down to the right, and even up to the right, but whenever I try to pull that same motion on the left side, my lip won't go up; instead, it just drops down to the left. I can force it into the right position if I really strain and use other muscles, but that "natural" instinctual movement that should pull my lip upward just sends it straight down.

Could this actually be a case of Facialis paralysis, and is there any chance this is what's messing with my ability to speak clearly? Should I definitely be booking an appointment with a doctor to get this checked out?

Jeffrey Mitchell54 said:Hey, sorry if I'm digging up this old thread, I just couldn't find anything more recent, but I wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with something similar.

For as long as I can remember, I've had some kind of "glitch" when it comes to speaking; I'd constantly have people telling me they could barely make out what I was saying,
though honestly, even more people probably just stayed quiet because, let's be real, it’s way easier to just nod along and pretend you heard them than to admit you didn't understand a word.

So, maybe I've finally stumbled upon the reason why my speech always sounds so muddled—or maybe I'm just being a total hypochondriac—but a few months back, I realized I physically can't perform one relatively simple mouth movement. My lips will move down to the left or down to the right, and even up to the right, but whenever I try to pull that same motion on the left side, my lip won't go up; instead, it just drops down to the left. I can force it into the right position if I really strain and use other muscles, but that "natural" instinctual movement that should pull my lip upward just sends it straight down.

Could this actually be a case of Facialis paralysis, and is there any chance this is what's messing with my ability to speak clearly? Should I definitely be booking an appointment with a doctor to get this checked out?

Speech impediments are typically linked to the hypoglossal nerve—the twelfth cranial nerve. As for the lip movement issues you're describing, that falls under the territory of the facialis nerve, the seventh cranial nerve. So, if your assessment of the symptoms is accurate, you're looking at potential pathologies involving two distinct cranial nerves.

Hey everyone. Two days ago, I noticed something felt really off on one side of my face. I went to see my doctor, and he basically told me to just deal with it, claiming it’s facial nerve paralysis. Besides that, I’ve got this nagging pain in the back of my head and my jaw joint is killing me. So far, all they've given me is some Vitamin B12 and a referral for physical therapy. Is it even possible to make a diagnosis that quickly? Honestly, I'm freaking out—I'm terrified this might be a stroke or something worse.😢

I forgot to mention that I’ve also got this really bitter taste in my mouth.
Doc says it isn't even related.