ABSTRACT

The weather during his holiday had been exceptionally cold. He had made an appointment to see his doctor because he had noticed that the left side of his face had become slightly distorted and expressionless towards the end of the holiday. He could not completely close his left eye and was unable to smile properly as that corner of his mouth was drooping. He also had difficulty in retaining food in his mouth while eating. He told the doctor that his daughter had asked him why he wasn’t whistling, something he always used to do as the relaxing effects of a holiday began to take effect! On being asked by his doctor to ‘screw up his eyes’, the facial asymmetry became more obvious (180b). i. What has caused these symptoms? ii. Why was the doctor so concerned that the patient could not completely close his eye? iii. During his investigation, the doctor asked the patient to wrinkle his brow. Why?