What are facial motion disorders?

Also known as: oral movement disorders, facial movement disorders, facial nerve palsy, facial tics.

In order to make facial expressions, (e.g. smiling or closing one's eyes) the brain sends a signal to the muscles of our face through the 7th cranial nerve called the facial nerve. A fairly large number of different conditions affect facial muscle movement which may be absent (paralysis), weak (partial paralysis or paresis) or abnormal (involuntary movements-synkinesis) facial motility.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM