The face is a very special and important part. We constantly communicate with the outside world, expressing our emotions through our faces and noticing the emotions of others.
There is a disease in which the eyelid or lower eyelid on one side of the face trembles against my will, and then one eye closes. This condition is caused by compression of the facial nerve by blood vessels in the brain, and is called hemifacial spasm.
If you suffer from hemifacial spasm, you will be afraid to meet people because you cannot make the expression on half of your face at will. In particular, many people lose their laughter because their eyes close when they laugh.
◆ What is hemifacial spasm?
If you are tired or consume too much caffeine, the excitability of the facial muscles increases, which can cause temporary shaking of the weakest parts, the lower eyelids and lower eyelids. In this case, the symptoms disappear naturally after a few days or weeks at the longest.
Hemifacial spasm refers to the above-described tremors around the eyes that continue for more than 3 months and become progressively worse and wider.
Specific hemifacial spasms can be divided into four stages. ▲In the first stage, the eyelids and under the eyes tremble, ▲In the second stage, the area around the mouth trembles, ▲In the third stage, the eyes become smaller, and ▲In the fourth stage, the eyes close.
Hemifacial spasms are common in middle-aged women in their 40s and 50s. It is speculated that the reason why there are many middle-aged patients is that as blood vessels become harder and longer as they get older, the nerves are more severely compressed and the nerve excitability rises due to the accumulated pressure.
So, why are women more prone to hemifacial spasms?
Professor Park Kwan of the Department of Neurosurgery at Konkuk University Hospital explains, “Facial muscles are closely connected to emotions, but women are more communication and relationship-oriented than men, so they make various expressions and laugh a lot.”
◆ Hemifacial spasm treatment method
Hemifacial spasm is a disease that does not take medicine well, and it does not get better on its own over time. It is also treated with Botox, but it does not work for only 3-4 months.
Microvascular decompression surgery is the most reliable treatment. Microvascular decompression is literally using microsurgical techniques to treat diseases by releasing pressure on blood vessels that press on the facial nerve or trigeminal nerve.
Konkuk University Hospital’s Neurosurgery Professor Kwan Park’s team, a master of microvascular decompression, is recognized worldwide for its excellent surgical results with a high surgical success rate of over 90% for hemifacial spasm.
Professor Park Kwan said, “Microvascular decompression is a treatment that operates on the brainstem area, which has the most blood vessels and nerves in the brain, so it is a burden for both patients and doctors.
However, he said, “It is very rewarding when patients who have lost their smile due to hemifacial spasm show a bright smile after being healed through surgery,” and pledged their passion to restore their lost smile for a long time to come.