Cool wind blowing on the face to cool down can easily cause facial paralysis

In the hot summer, everyone will try their best to cool down. Awen, a 16-year-old girl, particularly likes the feeling of cool breeze blowing on her head from a fan. Just last week, she suddenly felt uncomfortable on the right side of her face, the corner of her mouth was crooked, and she had a slight cough. Her family thought that it was the summer heat that caused her to get angry, so they bought a lot of herbal tea on the street for her to drink. But two days later, Awen's symptoms did not improve at all, but became worse and worse, and the corners of her mouth became more crooked. She then came to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University for treatment.

After Professor Chen Weiliang, director of the hospital's oral and maxillofacial surgery department, received the patient, he found that the right corner of Awen's mouth was obviously tilted downward, his right eyelid could not completely close when he blinked, and his right eyelid could not completely close when he closed his eyes hard. There were no wrinkles on the right forehead when he frowned, and his upper and lower lips could not completely close after he puffed up his mouth, and air was leaking from the right corner of his mouth. Director Chen Weiliang, who has rich clinical experience, asked Awen if he had experienced cold wind blowing on his face recently. Awen said that he had been using a fan since the beginning of summer, and he liked to have the fan blowing on his head regardless of day or night. Based on Awen's medical history and clinical manifestations, Director Chen Weiliang highly suspected that Awen had Bell's facial palsy and needed treatment as soon as possible. After a week of comprehensive treatment including hormones to reduce swelling, nerve nutrition, vasodilation, and antiviral treatment, Awen's condition improved. His crooked mouth corners and puffy cheeks showed significant improvement. He is still taking medication and recovering.

According to Director Chen Weiliang, the scientific name of facial paralysis is facial nerve paralysis, which is characterized by motor dysfunction of the facial expression muscles. It is generally manifested as facial asymmetry, and limited eyebrow raising, eye closing, and cheek puffing. There are two types of facial nerve paralysis: central facial nerve paralysis and peripheral facial nerve paralysis. Bell's palsy is the most common type of peripheral facial nerve paralysis. It is currently believed that it is mainly caused by viral infection and external environmental factors (such as cool wind) that cause facial nerve blood flow obstruction, edema and compression. It is common in young and middle-aged people and is mostly unilateral.

Professor Chen Weiliang said that in the past, Bell's palsy often occurred in winter due to washing the face and gargling with cold water in the early morning. However, with the improvement of living standards, people now use fans or air conditioners to blow directly on the head, face and behind the ears to cool off in the summer. Strong wind blowing on the face after opening the window of a high-speed vehicle can also easily induce Bell's palsy. The treatment effect of Bell's palsy depends on the severity of the disease and whether the treatment is timely and appropriate. 80% of Bell's palsy patients can recover within 2 to 3 months. Therefore, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are particularly important for treatment effectiveness.