What Does Facial Drooping And Imbalance Indicate?

Posted on Thu, 23 Apr 2015

Question: my mom I noticed she has left side facial drooping and complains of unbalanced walking. is this a bells palsy issue or what could these symptoms be from

Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes,it could be due to bell's palsy.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic,

One sided facial drooping is mostly due to dysfunction or damage to the seventh cranial nerve ( facial nerve) resulting in inability to control the facial muscles on the sides which is affected means if there drooping on the left side then there will be paralysis on the right side muscles.

The causes could be inflammatory swelling of facial nerve or Lyme disease or stroke or tumour.

Can you tell me any other symptoms apart from walking imbalance which can help to have a better view?

The diagnosis of bells palsy is done mostly clinically means on the basissigns and symptoms but it must be differentiated from herpes zoster,stroke and brain tumour.

So,it would suggest you to consult neurophysician to rule out other causes of bells palsy.

Hope this information is helpful to you for further evaluation. Do ask if there is any doubt.

Thanks,
Dr.Sandipkabra

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Pradeep Vitta