If you’ve recently suffered from an injury that has caused some or all of your face to become paralyzed, you might want to look into obtaining facial nerve disorder surgery.
This type of surgery can use a variety of reconstructive procedures to provide your face with an improved appearance as well as enhanced function.
What Is a Facial Nerve Disorder?
There are a variety of injuries that might have caused you to suffer from a facial nerve disorder, which refers to any condition that brings about partial or total paralysis in the face. While the most common causes of facial nerve disorder are conditions like Bell’s palsy and a stroke, it’s also possible for trauma to the head to cause this paralysis. If the head trauma is severe enough, the swelling that takes place could cause damage to the nerve, which might result in the development of a facial nerve disorder.
The head trauma could also cause the facial nerve to become severed, which would require surgery to fix. If you are suffering from a facial nerve disorder, you will either be affected by paresis or paralysis, the first of which is the incomplete loss of movement in the face. Paralysis involves the complete loss of facial movement. When the facial nerve has been damaged or severed, the main symptoms that you will experience include a drooping of one side of the face, changes in taste, an increase in sound sensitivity, and a general decrease in saliva production. While medications reduce the symptoms, surgery is oftentimes needed.
When Facial Nerve Disorder Surgery Might Be Applicable
Surgical intervention for a facial nerve disorder can be recommended at different intervals. In most cases, a wide range of treatment options will be administered in the first few months to make sure that all other options have been tested. If your facial nerve disorder was caused by an injury, surgery will likely be recommended sooner rather than later.
Reconstructive Surgical Procedures Used for Facial Nerve Disorders
Facial nerve disorder surgery is essentially an umbrella of treatments and procedures that are designed to enhance both the function and appearance of your face. These reconstructive procedures are commonly referred to as facial reanimation surgery. Your injury may have caused your facial nerve to become damaged, which can only be fixed through a microsurgical muscle transfer, nerve transfer, or nerve graft.
The microsurgical muscle transfer is aimed at restoring a person’s ability to smile when they’ve suffered from long-term facial paralysis. While this treatment might be recommended to you, it’s more likely that you will obtain a nerve transfer or graft, both of which are typically used for facial nerve disorder issues that are caused by injury. If you’ve lost muscle function because of your injury, it’s important that you obtain treatment early on. If you receive this treatment early enough, it’s possible that the facial nerve that has been newly transferred will be able to obtain control of your facial muscles before they become fully paralyzed.