Bell's palsy is the sudden onset of a one-sided facial paralysis. Inflammation of the facial nerve causes damage that interrupts nerve transmission, leads to facial numbness, ear pain, drooling and changes in tear production and taste. While 85 percent of patients achieve complete recovery within 6 months, according to the book "Head and Neck Manifestations of Systemic Disease", between 4 and 12 percent continue to suffer chronically from the condition.
Vitamin Deficiency
It appears that the chronic expression of this disease may result from an underlying vitamin deficiency in some people. A vitamin B12 deficiency is commonly associated with nerve degeneration. Generally, its deficiency is often thought of in cases of peripheral neuropathies, or nerve damage that occurs in the arms, legs and feet. But interestingly, an alternative medicine article by Peace Health, notes that B12 injections may be very helpful in treating chronic Bell's palsy. Vitamin B12 is stored in the muscle tissue and liver, and it often takes many years before the deficiency becomes apparent. Peace Health also notes that vegans and people with malabsorption issues, pancreatic disease, post-gastrointestinal surgery and those on certain medications are more likely to be deficient in this nutrient.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic condition of elevated blood sugar or glucose and resultant insulin insensitivity. The insulin is supposed to assist in the sugar's entrance into the cell, but over time, the transition does not occur as efficiently and sugar remains high in the blood. In the long term, the excess molecules of glucose will become unstable and act as free radicals, ravaging other tissues of the body such as the nerves. The nerves that are most commonly affected are the nerves of the hands, arms, feet and legs, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If a Bell's palsy sufferer already has pre-existing and uncontrolled diabetes, she starts out with an increased susceptiblity to nerve damage and, according to the UC Irvine Otolaryngology department, has less of a chance of full recovery. In diabetics, Bell's palsy can be chronic.
Herpes
Bell's palsy is believed to be caused by the chronic infection of herpes virus. This type of herpes virus is also responsible for the development of cold sores, also known as fever blisters. Shingles of the face, also known as Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, can also cause paralysis of the facial nerve and other similar symptoms to Bell's palsy. Shingles are the adult form of the chicken pox.
If blisters appear around the ear, in the ear canal or on other places of the body, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome will be identified more easily and distinguishes itself from Bell's more conclusively. In some cases however, only the symptoms of facial paralysis will appear and simulate the facial paralysis caused by HSV-1. Moreover, the possibility for full recovery of Ramsey Hunt Syndrome, at 50 to 60 percent, is not as good as it is for Bell's palsy. Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, notes the Otolaryngology Department, is treated the same way as Bell's but is more likely to be chronic.
