Facial palsy
condition is often only temporary and affects only one side of the face.
Causes
Facial palsy is most commonly due to Bell’s palsy, which occurs for no known reason. More rarely the condition can be associated with herpes zoster or shingles; this affects the facial nerve and ear. Facial palsy can also be the result of surgical damage to this nerve, or compression of the nerve, caused by a tumour.
Symptoms
Facial palsy often develops suddenly. The corner of the mouth and eyelid, on one side of the face droop, and these can be pain in the ear on the same side. The ability to close the eye or wrinkle the eyebrow can be lost, and smiling is deformed. Depending on which nerve branches are impaired, the sense of taste can be affected, or sounds can seem to be unusually loud.