Symptoms:

Symptoms usually start suddenly, and range from mild to severe. They may include:

• Change in facial expression (for example, grimacing)
• Difficulty with eating and drinking
• Drooling due to lack of control over muscles of the face
• Droopy eyelid or corner of mouth
• Dry eye or mouth
• Face feels stiff or pulled to one side
• Facial paralysis of one side of the face, makes it hard to close one eye
• Headache
• Loss of sense of taste
• Pain behind or in front of the ear
• Sensitivity to sound (hyperacusis) on the affected side of the face
• Twitching in face
• Weakness in face

Signs and tests:

• Blood tests for sarcoidosis or Lyme disease
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Electromyography (EMG)
• Nerve conduction test

Other causes of cranial mononeuropathy VII, such as head injury and tumor, need to be ruled out.