What is facial nerve spasm and how to treat it?

Facial spasm, also known as hemifacial spasm, is mainly an involuntary twitching of facial muscles on one side. Usually the twitching starts from the orbicularis oculi muscle and causes involuntary closing of the eyes and blinking, and gradually it can spread to the entire face. Including neuromuscular twitching in the neck, which may cause the corners of the mouth to become crooked.

Facial muscle spasm is twitching on one side of the face. The more nervous you are, the more serious the muscle spasm is. Since the initial symptom of hemifacial spasm is eyelid twitching, after a period of time, the condition develops and develops into hemifacial spasm. It's connected to the corners of the mouth, and seriously connected to the neck.

Hemifacial spasm can be divided into two types, one is primary hemifacial spasm, and the other is hemifacial spasm caused by sequelae of facial paralysis. Two types can be distinguished by symptoms. Primary hemifacial spasm can also occur in a static state. The spasm can be relieved after a few minutes and is uncontrollable. The hemifacial spasm caused by the sequelae of facial paralysis only occurs when blinking, raising eyebrows and other actions. Pay attention to rest, avoid fatigue and stress, ensure good sleep and mentality, and actively cooperate with early treatment.

Causes of facial nerve twitching

1. Facial paralysis. Facial paralysis is a major cause of facial nerve twitching, and primary facial nerve twitching can also occur in a static state. This kind of nerve twitching is usually uncontrolled, and the facial nerve twitching caused by the sequelae of facial paralysis is usually produced by blinking and eyebrow raising.

2. Nervous excitement. A small number of patients will experience facial nerve twitching after traumatic tumors or other surgeries. The cause of facial nerve twitching may be a short circuit with other cranial nerves during the recovery process of the facial nerve. When other nerves are excited, the facial nerves also receive excitatory signals, causing facial muscles to twitch.

3. Facial nerve paralysis. Due to the increasing pressure in life, many office workers often stay up late and work overtime. Over time, this can lead to facial nerve imbalance and eye muscle spasms. Therefore, facial nerve twitching may also be caused by facial nerve paralysis.

The treatment of facial nerve spasm is mainly symptomatic treatment, which can be treated with acupuncture, physical therapy and neurotrophic drugs. If the drug treatment is ineffective, surgery and nerve decompression can be used to improve symptoms.

Treatment of facial nerve convulsions

1. Drug treatment. Medication treatment generally uses oral Western medicine to control the condition. Anti-epileptic drugs are mainly used to suppress intermittent convulsions of nerves. The patient's symptoms can be significantly relieved in a short period of time. However, there are many hidden dangers in drug treatment. Some patients often experience adverse reactions such as drug rash, low-grade fever, and swollen lymph nodes. This drug treatment method is mainly used for patients with mild symptoms and conservative treatment.

2. Acupuncture therapy. Clinical studies have shown that acupuncture and acupoint stimulation can improve facial paralysis symptoms to a certain extent. However, this treatment method also has certain limitations. Patients who are nervous, fearful, hungry, fatigued or intolerant to acupuncture cannot receive treatment. Therefore, this treatment method is suitable for patients with high psychological quality, mild illness, and onset time of less than a week.

3. Surgical treatment. After surgical treatment, most facial nerve functions can be gradually restored to varying degrees, and the patient's symptoms can be significantly improved. However, this method has higher risks. The surgical process can easily cause damage to the auditory nerve, resulting in excessive or permanent hearing loss, deafness, tinnitus, as well as symptoms such as intraoperative bleeding, postoperative dizziness or intracranial infection.