What is Facial Palsy? Birth Injury FAQ
Facial palsy occurs when the nerves that control facial muscles are damaged through trauma or compression. While many cases happen naturally, some may be the result of issues during the labor and delivery process.
In this video, we discuss:
Defining Facial Palsy: Understanding how nerve damage affects a person's ability to smile or use facial muscles [00:05].
Medical Malpractice vs. Natural Causes: Why most cases are unrelated to medical care, but why some circumstances warrant a record review [00:29].
Temporary vs. Permanent Injury: The difference between transient injuries that heal on their own and significant nerve damage with long-term effects [01:01].
If your baby was diagnosed with facial palsy at birth and you have questions about the care you received, it is important to have an experienced professional review the medical records to see if the injury could have been avoided.
For more information:
Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
161 N. Clark Street, Suite 4700
Chicago, Illinois 60601
https://www.salvilaw.com/
Phone: (312) 372-1227
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Transcript
Matt Williams:
Facial palsy is damaged to the nerves that innervate portions of the face. And what that means is that if you damage through trauma or compression these nerves, that can affect how a person smiles or how they use the muscles in their face. And that's called a facial palsy. Not all facial palsies are potentially the result of a physician or nurse doing something wrong. In fact, probably the vast majority of facial palsies are something that happens unrelated to physician or nurse care. However, there are some circumstances where if during the labor and delivery process, there's injury or damage to the nerves that affect the functioning of the face, then that can be the cause of the facial palsy. It's worth having someone take a look at the records to see if that injury could have been avoided. If your baby is diagnosed with a facial palsy at or near the time of birth, there may be no permanent injury. Many times, you can have what's called a temporary or transient injury to the nerve, which just over time it will heal on its own, and there's no long-term problems. However, if there's a significant injury to the nerves that affect the functioning of the face, it may never recover, and then you will have a more permanent injury.
