Question 1

what is erbs palsy?

Accepted Answer

Erb's palsy: Is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm's main nerves, specifically the upper trunk c5-c6 is severed.  These injuries arise most commonly, but not exclusively, during a difficult birth. Depending on the nature of the damage, the paralysis can either resolve on its own over a period of months, necessitate rehabilitative therapy, or require surgery.

Question 2

what is bells palsy?

Accepted Answer

Bell's palsy: Acute paralysis of the 7th cranial nerve
eyelid won't close and one side of face droops
thought to be due to a virus infection or immune response to such.  Typically, resolves completely, but Prednisone speeds the resolution.

Question 3

what causes bell's palsy?

Accepted Answer

Viral infection: Bell's palsy is one reason people develop facial paralysis. True bell's palsy is felt to be caused by a viral infection of the facial nerve leading to swelling of the nerve and damage to it caused by decreased blood flow. Steroids are very helpful in treating this. Some people incorrectly term facial paralysis "bell's palsy." this is not correct, you must exclude other causes of facial paralysis.

Question 4

can bells palsy be cured?

Accepted Answer

Usually improved: Bell's palsy is presumptively damage to the seventh facial nerve which affects the motion of the forehead, eyelids, cheek and mouth.  Depending upon the damage to the nerve, improvement generally occurs.  A few will have some dysfunction and less commonly little function.   There is no true "cure" and there is doubt about the effect of medication.  Time will tell in each case.

Question 5

can bells palsy reaccure?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but...: Bell's palsy is known as idiopathic facial paralysis. By definition, that means we don't know what caused it. All other causes of facial paralysis should be investigated first. Brain tumors, strokes, and a syndrome called melkersson- rosenthal syndrome should be evaluated for.

Question 6

can bell's palsy reoccur?

Accepted Answer

Yes: It is definitely possible for bell's palsy to recur.

Question 7

how rare is bulbar palsy?

Accepted Answer

Not a disease itself: Bulbar palsy is an assortment of signs and symptoms, not the name of a precise disease.  It refers to impairment of function of the cranial nerves ix, x, xi and xii.  Its causes are many but here are a few:
acute intermittent porphyria, motor neuron disease (als), guillain barre syndome, lyme's disease, botulinism, and myastheinia gravis.

Question 8

how common is bell's palsy?

Accepted Answer

Not very: Bells palsy is not as uncommon as is generally believed. Worldwide statistics set the frequency at just over .02% of the population (with geographical variations). In human terms this is 1 of every 5000 people over the course of a lifetime and 40, 000 americans every year. (courtesy of the bells palsy web site).

Question 9

is bell's palsy a hereditary?

Accepted Answer

No: Bell's palsy is thought to be due to a viral infection of the facial nerve. Other causes include lyme's disease and sarcoidosis but its is not passed down from one generation to the next. That is not to say that you would not see bell's palsy in a parent and years latter in their child. Bell's palsy rarely is seen bilaterally, if so it is diagnostic of multiple scerosis.

Question 10

how is bell's palsy diagnosed?

Accepted Answer

Depends on the Cause: Bell's palsy itself can be diagnosed just with a history and physical exam. However, the cause of bell's palsy can be idiopathic (unknown cause) or range from infection to a tumor. Therefore your physician may want to run additional tests to find the cause of bell's palsy.

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