Can Facial Fillers Help Patients with Bell's Palsy?

Summary · INTRODUCTION · CASE · DISCUSSION. Facial fillers are a popular cosmetic procedure used to restore facial volume and help patients achieve a more youthful appearance. But can they also help those suffering from Bell's palsy? Recent research suggests that facial fillers may be beneficial for patients with facial paralysis, stroke, and muscular dystrophy. During the normal aging process, bone remodeling and fat loss and redistribution lead to the cardinal signs of the “aging face”.

These signs include accentuation of the nasolabial fold (also known as smile lines, laugh lines), double chin, temporary emptying, emptying of the orbit, lowering of the fat pad of the cheek, and deformity of the tear canal in the region under the eyes. Dermal fillers such as hyaluronic acid, collagen and calcium hydroxyapatite can restore facial volume and help patients achieve a more youthful appearance. Surgeons can also collect fat from patients using liposuction techniques and inject it into the face to restore volume with their own tissue.Botox injections can cause temporary facial volume loss, resulting in asymmetrical lips.

Facial fillers

such as Juvederm, Restylane, and Radiesse can solve this problem by adding volume back to the skin.

These dermal fillers are made with different ingredients that temporarily fill the skin and lips for a fuller appearance.Bell's palsy is a condition that causes facial paralysis or weakness on one side of the face. Symptoms may include oral incompetence or inability to hold lips together in a state of rest, which can result in drooling when eating and drinking; difficulty making facial expressions, such as smiling or frowning; facial weakness and muscle contractions.Lee conducted a study that looked at psychosocial well-being and functional filler for facial paralysis. The results showed that a single filler treatment greatly improved the psychosocial health of patients with facial paralysis. In addition, patients were less likely to avoid photographs, less worried that people would think they had a stroke and felt more personal confidence.Miller also uses filler on the lips of patients with facial paralysis to improve their ability to eat, drink and speak.

Unexpected complications were caused by a combination of factors, including distinctive vascularity around the nose, excessive filler injection pressure, and excessive filler injection volume.As a result, many patients request fillers for ipsilateral volume loss, without recognizing the hyperkinetic activity of the contralateral facial muscle. Lee and his team are working on additional studies and hope that insurance will universally cover the functional use of filler for facial paralysis in the near future.If you would like to learn more about how facial fillers can help those suffering from Bell's palsy, contact your doctor or schedule an appointment with Dr. Lee at 984-974-2255.