The Relationship between Cold Exposure and Idiopathic Facial Nerve Palsy

Abstract

Background and Aim: Facial palsy, Paralysis of all the muscles supplied by the facial nerve on one side only, and without other symptoms, always means disease of the nerve trunk, characterized by weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles, can result from a variety of causes, including viral infections. While the exact relationship between cold exposure and facial palsy is not directly addressed, it is known that cold exposure can exacerbate certain neurological conditions. Therefore, it is possible that cold exposure could worsen the symptoms of facial palsy. To confirm relationship between cold exposure and facial palsy, we retrospectively analyzed 27 patients with BP in order to provide statistic data and draw up relevant connections between cold exposure and idiopathic facial nerve palsy.
Methodology: In a retrospective study of the medical record for 3 years from January 2021 to December 2023, approximately twenty-seven adult participants over the age of 18 were included in our analysis. They were clinically diagnosed with Bell's palsy as there is no underlying neurological or autoimmune disease known to cause such a condition. All demographic and laboratory data of the participants are used to determine the cause of facial palsy.
Results: Our analysis includes twenty seven participants, 17 males (63%) and 10 females (37%); they were divided into three age groups' from18 to 40, 41 to 60, and above 60 years old, with 17 (63%), 8 (29.6%) and 2 (7.4%) cases in each group, respectively. About 19 (70.4%) were exposed to cold within 24 hr of palsy while the other 11 (29.6%) were not exposed to cold. Moreover, Bell's palsy appeared for the first time in 21 (77.8%) of the cases, but it was a second or more occurrence in 6 (22.2%) the remaining cases. According to risk factors among the studied cases, there were 16 (59.3%) had DM, while the other 11 (40.7%) were not DM and 1 (3.7%) who uses immunosuppressive drugs, while the other 26 (96.3%) did not used them.
Conclusion: Our analytical data show that cold exposure is possibly one of risk factor in Bell's palsy, but further studies are a devised to confirm our result with randomized control group and with a large number of patients should be taken into consideration to support our result for better outcome and high satisfaction.