Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation in Congenital Facial Paralysis

Congenital facial paralysis (CFP) is a paralysis of facial nerve that occurs in birth or shortly after birth due to congenital or traumatic causes, has a prevalence of 1.2-2.4/1000. Our aim is to determine the effectiveness of physiotherapy and rehabilitation in CFP. We assessed a 9-year-old girl, who had no congenital injuries, with muscle test, House Brackmann Facial Grading Systems (HBFGS) and Sunnybrook Facial Grading Systems (SFGS). She got level 4 in HBFGS scale; and 20 points for resting symmetry, 72 points for voluntary movement symmetry and 4 points for synkinesis in SFGS scale. The patient received our treatment including face massage, electrotherapy, mimic muscle and functional exercises lasting one hour per session, 3 days a week for 24 weeks. Biopsychosocial positive feedback was obtained after the ongoing treatment program, although there were no numerical changes in assessment scales. Although reported cases in the literature are irreversible, studies on rehabilitation are needed. Keywords: Congenital facial paralysis, physiotherapy, rehabilitation