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How Severe Does Bell's Palsy Get?

• Bell's Palsy
• Bell's Palsy and Pregnancy
• Cause of Bell's Palsy
• Who gets it
• Can it Occur More than Once?
• Is Bell's Palsy permanent?
• Is it a stroke?
• Bell's Palsy Symptoms
• How severe is the paralysis?
• Is it only facial muscles?
• Why Can I Still Feel Touch?
• Bell's Palsy Treatment
• Tips for Coping With Bell's Palsy

The severity of Bell's Palsy varies from patient to patient and ranges from slight motor function deficit to total paralysis.

In other words, the severity may be stop at slight muscle weakness, or it may result in complete facial paralysis on the affected side.

Classification for facial nerve deficits

• I. Normal
• II. Mild dysfunction (normal symmetry at rest, able to close lids with minimal effort and slight asymmetry, able to move mouth with maximal effort)
• III. Moderate dysfunction (mild asymmetry, no functional impairment, able to close lids and move mouth with maximal effort)
• IV. Moderately severe dysfunction (obvious asymmetry, no movement of brows, unable to close lids completely, unable to move corner of mouth)
• V. Severe dysfunction (only barely perceptible motion, obvious asymmetry with droop of mouth and slight movement of eyelids)
• VI. Total paralysis