Trauma, Tumours, Infection and other injury
Trauma:
Fractures of the temporal bone (the skull bone above your ear) can cause facial nerve injury as the nerve runs through a tunnel made from this bone. Other facial trauma like other fractures or lots of swelling can cause injury to the nerve.
Tumours:
A tumour in the ear, skull base, brain stem, cheek: stuff that takes up space and squishes the nerve can cause the facial nerve to do some very strange things! We are very careful to screen to be sure we are not missing something like this if people present to us with new onset facial nerve paralysis. We will refer to a Doctor if we are suspicious!
Removal of benign tumours: Acoustic neuroma, facial nerve schwannoma, brainstem tumours, cheek tumours (like parotid tumours) etc ..
Removal of cancerous lesions from the head, face and neck via surgery or radiation.
Facial nerve injury can vary quite drastically with these types of surgeries and injuries. They can be transient secondary to swelling recovering in a few weeks to months all the way to the nerve needing to be sacrificed because it was wrapped around or traveled through the tumour or cut by a broken bone.
Infection:
Some middle ear infections especially in kids can cause facial nerve paralysis
Some infections to the cheek glands (parotid and saliva) can cause injury to the cheek (buccal) branch of the facial nerve.
It’s important that these are appropriately medically managed to give the nerve a good shot at getting better.
Other injury to the facial nerve:
Any surgery or procedure in the face can run the risk of injury because of the location of the nerve and/or swelling around it. This is why we think it is always important to see qualified appropriate health care professionals to minimise risk.
We have seen patients following various types of face lifts, total jaw joint replacement surgery, filler, liposuction, botox etc
The recovery from these injuries can vary greatly, but we do have tests and markers that we look at to see how long we think it should take and set up the most streamlined treatments possible with ourselves and relevant specialists. We work with your team and facial nerve specialists to make the recovery as civilised as possible.
The impact of an unexpected facial nerve injury:
It’s important not to underestimate the impact of an unexpected facial nerve injury, irrespective of the degree of the injury. Faces are so important to who we are and our identity. They are the image of ourselves that we put out into the world. They are essential organs for speech, non verbal communication, eating and drinking. The facial nerve even controls the ability to close your eye! An injury is a wild ride and can come with a loss of sense of self.
We do encourage mental health support along the way for this unique experience and can suggest a couple of great support groups and psychologists if that is something you feel you need.