What is the Difference Between Bell’s Palsy and Cerebral Palsy

The key difference between Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy is that Bell’s palsy is a type of temporary paralysis condition caused by the dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system, while cerebral palsy is a type of lifelong paralysis condition caused by the dysfunction of the central nervous system.

Palsy is a medical condition that specifically refers to various types of paralysis. It is characterized by weakness and loss of feeling in the muscles and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking. Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy are two different types of palsies.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Bell’s Palsy  
3. What is Cerebral Palsy
4. Similarities – Bell’s Palsy and Cerebral Palsy
5. Bell’s Palsy vs Cerebral Palsy in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Bell’s Palsy vs Cerebral Palsy

What is Bell’s Palsy?

Bell’s palsy is a paralysis condition that causes weakness in muscles on one side of the face. Generally, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. In rare situations, Bell’s palsy can affect the nerves on both sides of the face. The symptoms of Bell’s palsy may include rapid onset of mild weakness on one side of the face, facial droop, difficulty in making facial expressions, drooling, pain around the jaw, increased sensitivity to sound on the affected side of the face, headache, taste loss, and changes in the amount of tears and saliva production. The exact cause of this condition is not known. But it is often linked to viral infections such as cold sores and genital herpes, chicken pox and shingles, infectious mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus, respiratory illnesses (adenovirus infection), German measles, mumps, influenza B, and hand foot and mouth disease.

Bell’s palsy can be diagnosed through physical examination, electromyography (EMG), imaging scans, and blood tests. Furthermore, the treatment options for Bell’s palsy may include medications (corticosteroids and antiviral drugs), physical therapy, and surgery (decompression surgery, plastic surgery, and reanimation surgery).

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a type of lifelong paralysis condition caused by the dysfunction of the central nervous system. It can affect movement and muscle tone or posture. Normally, cerebral palsy is due to damage to the immature, developing brain before birth. The signs and symptoms of this condition may include stiff muscles and spasticity, variation in muscle tone, lack of muscle coordination, tremors, jerky movements, slow writhing movements, delayed speech, difficulty in speaking, sucking, chewing, or eating, problems with sweating, learning difficulties, intellectual disabilities, delayed growth, seizures, difficulty in hearing, problems with vision, pain sensations, bladder or bowel problems, and mental health conditions such as emotional disorders. Moreover, some causes of cerebral palsy may include gene mutations, maternal infections, fetal stroke, bleeding into the brain, infant infections, traumatic head injury to an infant, and lack of oxygen to the brain during labor.

Cerebral palsy can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, brain scans (MRI and cranial ultrasound), electroencephalogram (EEG), laboratory tests (blood tests), and additional tests (vision, hearing, speech, intellect, development, movement, and other medical conditions). Furthermore, treatment options for cerebral palsy can include medications (muscle or nerve injections (onabotulinumtoxin A), oral muscle relaxants (baclofen, tizanidine, diazepam or dantrolene), drooling reduction drugs (Botox injection), therapies (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and recreational therapy), surgical procedures (orthopaedic surgery and cutting nerve fibers (selective dorsal rhizotomy), and other treatments (for seizures, pain, osteoporosis, mental health conditions such as emotional disorders, problems with sleep, oral health, feeding and nutrition, bladder incontinence, etc.).

What are the Similarities Between Bell’s Palsy and Cerebral Palsy?

• Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy are two different types of palsies characterized by similar symptoms such as weakness and loss of feeling in the muscles and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking.
• Viral infections can enhance the risk of both conditions.
• Both conditions may cause complications.
• They are diagnosed through physical examination and imaging tests.
• They are treated through specific medications, therapies, and surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Bell’s Palsy and Cerebral Palsy?

Bell’s palsy is a type of temporary paralysis condition that is caused by the dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system, while cerebral palsy is a type of lifelong paralysis condition that is caused by the dysfunction of the central nervous system. Thus, this is the key difference between Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy. Furthermore, Bell’s palsy mainly affects adults, while cerebral palsy is mainly affecting infants.

The below infographic presents the differences between Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Bell’s Palsy vs Cerebral Palsy

Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy are two different types of palsy or paralysis conditions. Both may cause similar features, such as muscle weakness or loss of feeling in the muscles. However, Bell’s palsy is a type of temporary paralysis condition, and it is caused by the dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system. In contrast, cerebral palsy is a type of lifelong paralysis condition, and it is caused by the dysfunction of the central nervous system. So, this is the key difference between Bell’s palsy and cerebral palsy.

Reference:

1. “Bell’s Palsy.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 8 Aug. 2021.
2. “Cerebral Palsy.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Sept. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “10 Palsy” By Felton Davis (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Cerebral Palsy Types” By Ceimile95 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia