• Bell’s palsy is the unexpected occurrence of muscle weakness on one or both sides of the face. It is one of the diseases that can be ranked as idiopathic as the cause of the disease continues to be unknown though there are theories stating that it can occur due to a viral infection of the nerve.

• Though the exact cause of the disease is unknown, the condition can affect more that 23 % people in a population of 100,000 per year which means that 1 out of 70 people may have to suffer from this disease.

• Since the disease involves facial paralysis, it’s symptoms can be externally seen even by the patients. One of the most common symptoms is weakness of face from one side. The disease has a rapid onset and can make its presence felt within an hour. Though the condition usually occurs on one side of the face, it rare cases, it may be bilateral i.e. it may affect both the sides. Another common symptom of this condition is constant earache, numbness in the affected region and involuntary movements of the face. The front part of the tongue is not able to detect taste and the lips on the affected side can be lop-sided, due to which there may be dribbling of the saliva. There is increase lacrimation due to which, the production of tears is more. Since the eye muscle can be severely affected, the person may not be able to voluntarily blink.

• Since there is no known cause of Bell’s palsy, one does not know how to prevent it.

• The condition can be confused by few other causes of facial weaknesses that consist of fracture of the skull, neck injury, damage to facial nerve in an ear surgery and tumors in the upper region of the neck.

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