Exercises For Bell'S Palsy

Bell's Palsy is an often temporary condition whereby you lose control over the muscles of your face. While Bell's Palsy resolves of its own accord in upwards of 60 percent of cases, individuals anxious to regain full control over their lives might want to attempt to accelerate that process by adopting a facial training regime. Performing a mild series of facial exercises can help you improve your condition, allowing you to function normally once more as fast as reasonably possible.

Bell's Palsy

Bell's Palsy occurs where there has been damage to the seventh cranial nerve, which controls the face. Bell's Palsy is the most common condition for facial nerve damage, and 60 to 80 percent of cases resolve on their own within as little as a few weeks. Oftentimes, Bell's Palsy tends to affect one side of the face more than the other. There is no official treatment regime for sufferers. Instead, the goal is to relieve an individual's symptoms as they become manifest.

Bell's Palsy and Exercise

The experts at the Bell's Palsy InfoSite suggest that regular practice of facial exercises might help to accelerate your rate of recovery. While conducting the exercises, you should focus attention on restoring the brain-to-muscle connection, enabling you to employ renewed control over your facial muscles, and reestablishing the connection through the cranial nerve.

Sample Exercises

Bell's Palsy exercises are deceptively simple, with most involving nothing more than repeated facial actions that you would be making unconsciously in the absence of your condition. For example, merely practicing sniffling or wrinkling your nose can be beneficial, as can practicing your smile or merely moving your lips or jawbone. As a start, try opening your mouth and eyes as wide as you can, holding the position for a couple of seconds, then closing both your mouth and eyes as tightly as possible, effectively "scrunching" up your face. Repeat this exercise for a total of 10 reps per set, and perform sets throughout the day. Another sample exercise you can try is alternating between smiling and frowning a total of 10 to 15 times per set, also repeated throughout the day. Training and relearning these basic motor patterns is the key to effectively combating Bell's Palsy with exercise.

Exercise Tips

Even if you find yourself unable to move the intended muscle, do not forgo your practice. Incorporate visualization techniques to imagine yourself moving the muscles in question. Visualizing is a powerful technique often used by athletes in various sports to establish (or reestablish) a mind-to-muscle connection. Thus, using visualization to encourage the body to repair itself is only natural if you are entirely unable to perform the basic motions listed above.

Considerations

Above all else, the individuals at the Bell's Palsy InfoSite recommend that you avoid becoming frustrated or angry with your condition. Although frustration resulting from the inability to perform even simple facial movements is perfectly natural, resist this instinct and remind yourself that Bell's Palsy is a temporary condition that will likely resolve of its own accord. Instead of becoming frustrated, apply a warm compress to the muscles of your face and employ manual massage to stimulate blood flow.

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