What is facial palsy stem cell treatment?

If you have been diagnosed with facial palsy, most likely you are wondering about facial palsy treatment options available. Let´s understand facial palsy stem cell treatment.
Also known as Bell’s palsy, facial palsy is a condition that happens when the nerve that regulates facial muscles becomes swollen, compressed or inflamed hence causing temporary weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles. This condition was first described by Sir Charles Bell, a Scottish surgeon, who studied anatomy and physiology of the nervous system using electricity and later established the difference between the sensitive and motor nerves.

Understanding the role played by facial nerves

When a facial nerve is either missing or non-functioning, the facial muscles fail to receive the necessary signals so as to work effectively resulting in paralysis of the affected part of the face. Each facial side has its own nerve, so damaging the right nerve will only have negative impact on the right side of the face and vice versa. Each nerve begins at the brains, enter the face and then to the ear front where it is split into 5 separate branches that supply muscles used for facial expressions. Tears, taste, and saliva secretion are also regulated by the facial nerve.

Causes of facial palsy

The root causes of facial palsy are not yet fully known however this condition is most likely caused by viral infections.

These viruses include:
• HIV virus
• Herpes simplex
• Epstein-Barr
• Herpes zoster virus
• Sarcoidosis

Who is at risk of developing facial palsy?

• Expectant mothers especially during the first trimester
• Diabetic patients
• Those with lung infection
• Those with family history of the disease

Symptoms of facial palsy

Generally, the symptoms of facial palsy appear abruptly and you will notice them when trying to enjoy your favorite meal or drink. These symptoms are seen one to two weeks after you have had a cold, an ear and eye infection, skull fracture/ face injury, Lyme disease, head/neck tumor, and stroke.
The condition is characterized by a tired out appearance on one side of the face and the difficulties to open or close the eye on the affected side and in rare cases, it may affect both sides of the face.

Other signs and symptoms of facial palsy include:

• Mouth dropping of the affected side
• Change in sense of taste
• Drooling
• Eating and drinking problems
• Incapability of making facial expressions like frowning and smiling
• Facial weakness
• Dry eyes and mouth
• Inaudible speech
• Muscle spasms in the face
• Pain in/behind your ear
• Sensitivity to sound on the affected side of the face
• Headache

If you develop any of the above symptoms, avoid administering yourself to any self-diagnosed facial palsy remedy; instead consult your doctor immediately, get in touch with StemCells21 doctors to obtain professional help regarding medical care facial palsy stem cell treatment. The symptoms are in many ways similar to those of life-threatening diseases like brain tumor and stroke.

Diagnosis of facial palsy

The diagnosis of facial palsy is based on the signs and symptoms and by observing the face and trying to assess which muscles aren´t functioning. If the diagnosis is still unclear, the physician may run other tests like Electromyography (EMG) which helps identify which the damaged nerves and the severity and to eliminate possible causes of the damage like tumor, skull fracture or infection, a computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be used.

To rehabilitate a facial palsy patient is very challenging; this is because up to date, there is no complete flawless treatment option that helps to fully repair facial nerves and muscle functioning. Besides that, different cases have different causes and different areas of the face where the paralysis has happened, hence different recovery issues arise each time.

Facial palsy stem cell treatment

Even though facial nerves have the ability to regenerate, there has been significant interest in stem cell therapy to resolve the problem of facial paralysis where most treatments enhance neural regeneration through anti-inflammatory effect, growth secretion or replace damaged cells. Different types of mesenchymal stem cells such adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and bone marrow-deprived stem cells have been applied to research. Recent studies on facial palsy stem cell therapy show that stem cells are in a position to restore both function and sensitivity on animals. This is yet to open the door for living human cells treatment becoming a reality soon.

Stem cells as a source of anti-inflammatory factors

Several studies have confirmed that identical stem cells effectively promote nerve regeneration; this can be attributed to both neurotrophic and anti-inflammatory factors secreted by homogeneous cells after transplant. A comparison done between ADSCs, ADSCs-derived Schwann cells and autologous Schwann cells has shown that similar degree for all cell types as well as all groups are superior to negative controls but inferior to nerve autograft in histological parameters. These cells were transplanted in a silicon conduit and later used to repair a facial nerve in rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen and facial palsy

Hyperbaric oxygen has the ability to perfectly oxidize and eliminate dangerous heavy metals, bacteria, viruses and toxins which are associated with the condition in question. The bacteria that is linked to facial palsy flourish in low oxygen scenarios but can be killed by a huge amount of pressurized oxygen. Moreover, hyperbaric oxygen has the capacity to immensely create stem cells in human body, human body creates 800% extra stem cells after forty hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Hence the body uses the stem cells to heal and recover the injured areas since they can turn into any type of cell the body requires.