[Facial palsy]

Facial palsy is a daily challenge for the clinicians. Determining whether facial nerve palsy is peripheral or central is a key step in the diagnosis. Central nervous lesions can give facial palsy which may be easily differentiated from peripheral palsy. The next question is the peripheral facial paralysis idiopathic or symptomatic. A good knowledge of anatomy of facial nerve is helpful. A structure approach is given to identify additional features that distinguish symptomatic facial palsy from idiopathic one. The main cause of peripheral facial palsies is idiopathic one, or Bell's palsy, which remains a diagnosis of exclusion. The most common cause of symptomatic peripheral facial palsy is Ramsay-Hunt syndrome. Early identification of symptomatic facial palsy is important because of often worst outcome and different management. The prognosis of Bell's palsy is on the whole favorable and is improved with a prompt tapering course of prednisone. In Ramsay-Hunt syndrome, an antiviral therapy is added along with prednisone. We also discussed of current treatment recommendations. We will review short and long term complications of peripheral facial palsy.