title: The natural history of Bell's palsy.
abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to explain the spontaneous course of idiopathic facial palsy without treatment of any kind. The investigation included 1011 patients seen over a fifteen-year period. The patients were checked at short intervals until remission occurred, and these checks were discontinued only when normal function was restored or after a period of one year. For 85 percent of patients the first signs of remission were observed within three weeks after the outbreak; for the last 15 percent remission occurred three to six months later. Seventy-one percent recovered normal mimical function of the face, 13 percent had insignificant sequelae, and the last 16 percent had permanently diminished function with contracture and associated movements.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013198:Stapedius / Q000503:physiopathology; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors