facial nerve damage

[dolly47726]

Hi, I'm 47 yrs old,I had a car accident 20 yrs ago, my nerve on one side of face is not working,when i smile that side will not go up. how can i fix this big problem i have for 20yrs.
i hate to smile,nerve on the side of face only a little goes up.
Thank you

[trulyfaithfull_always]

Wow Hi There, I thought I was the only one like this. I too had a car accident in 1998 . I have the same thing as you and didnt have any therapy , Due to moving to The Us in 2000. I know exactly how you feel. I too feel like that. I am 51 yrs old Now. I dont have health insurance and not working tec. So my Room mate is paying everything.  Life is Bad enought without being able to support yourself when you have for the past 14 years. It is really Depressing , But people dont understand. I hope you read this , You can Conatct me  trulyfaithfull_always***@**** . You Be safe and Take Care , Luv Hazel

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi.

You have lived with the palsy for 20 years. This is a long time. More importantly, there are so many things you had to sacrifice.

I can't really comment upon acupuncture, as I am no expert in it. You have to believe what the acupuncture specialist says. Since you have not tried any therapy, you might as well try acupuncture.

Regard s

[dolly47726]

no i have never had any treatment,or any doctor's.
I guess this is it.
but tues. i'm going to look for acupunture to see if they can help. i just hate to smile.
never thought of plastic surgery.
when this happened to me 20yrs ago i was 13yrs old.doctors never said any thing to me how to fix this,just went on like this and got use to it.
but know i'm 47yrs.
everyone always looks at me like what the. so do you think of acupunture will help me some or not.
thank you.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Since this problem is a long standing one, I suspect you would have tried some other treatment methods earlier. Can you mention some of those if you can recall?

Some percentage of facial palsy recovers completely. Some take a long time to recover. A very small percentage never recovers, suggesting a permanent damage to the facial nerve.

Regards

[dolly47726]

no,not receiving physical therapy.
I was thinking on going for acupunture,to see if would help.
thank you

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

You have facial nerve damage from the accident. There have been research studies on long term outcome of nerve damage. If the nerve is totally severed in the accident, the chances of its recovery are minimal. I am not in a position to tell you if it will recover in your case. The best ways to increase chances of recovery are multivitamin supplements and physical therapy. Have you been receiving physical therapy?

Regards