Hello! It's my first time posting, and I apologize for the long post. I just want to be as comprehensive as possible.
I'm on my third week with Bell's Palsy, and just this past week, I was ecstatic to see rapid improvements on the side of my face that's been affected. I can blink, flare my nostril, curl the side of my lip but not quite to the extent of my other side (I'd say I've regained about 80% of my facial muscle control back). Just the week before that, I was not able to do any of these. I know that for some, it takes months if not years for recovery, and I'll probably come out sounding like an impatient jerk for asking this, but seeing rapid gains in such a short period of time, I'm wondering if this is as best as I'm going to get? Here's what I'm thinking, but I must forewarn you that my understanding of biology is a bit rusty. Since I'm able to move the affected side of my face, I assume the neural connections responsible for contracting the muscles of the eye, nose, and mouth have been reconnected. Is the missing 20% of my facial control the "facial residuals" that some people experience after Bell's Palsy? Or am I grossly simplifying the complexity of these neural connections to my eye, nose, and mouth as single "pipelines", if that makes any sense, and that as more of these pipelines eventually find their way to these respective muscles, the stronger the muscle contractions and hence greater facial control? If that's the case, how much time should I expect for neurons to fully heal?
Lastly, I also want to quickly ask if it is possible for neurons to miswire across the face. When I close the eye on the affected side of the face, it seems to drag down my other normal eyelid, and I can't seem to keep it fully open. However, I have no trouble keeping my affected eye open when I close my unaffected eye, which I find puzzling. Perhaps someone who's specialty lies in neurology can illuminate on this? Many thanks in advance!
I'm on my third week with Bell's Palsy, and just this past week, I was ecstatic to see rapid improvements on the side of my face that's been affected. I can blink, flare my nostril, curl the side of my lip but not quite to the extent of my other side (I'd say I've regained about 80% of my facial muscle control back). Just the week before that, I was not able to do any of these. I know that for some, it takes months if not years for recovery, and I'll probably come out sounding like an impatient jerk for asking this, but seeing rapid gains in such a short period of time, I'm wondering if this is as best as I'm going to get? Here's what I'm thinking, but I must forewarn you that my understanding of biology is a bit rusty. Since I'm able to move the affected side of my face, I assume the neural connections responsible for contracting the muscles of the eye, nose, and mouth have been reconnected. Is the missing 20% of my facial control the "facial residuals" that some people experience after Bell's Palsy? Or am I grossly simplifying the complexity of these neural connections to my eye, nose, and mouth as single "pipelines", if that makes any sense, and that as more of these pipelines eventually find their way to these respective muscles, the stronger the muscle contractions and hence greater facial control? If that's the case, how much time should I expect for neurons to fully heal?
Lastly, I also want to quickly ask if it is possible for neurons to miswire across the face. When I close the eye on the affected side of the face, it seems to drag down my other normal eyelid, and I can't seem to keep it fully open. However, I have no trouble keeping my affected eye open when I close my unaffected eye, which I find puzzling. Perhaps someone who's specialty lies in neurology can illuminate on this? Many thanks in advance!