A hemifacial spasm can be extremely disruptive to daily life. If you struggle with this condition, it’s likely you’ve come here hoping to find out how to cure hemifacial spasm. Usually starting as a twitch around one eye, hemifacial spasm can spread to affect the entire left or right half of the face, including the mouth and jaw. This twitching can be embarrassing, inconvenient and uncomfortable, but thankfully, there are several treatments that can successfully cure this condition.
How to Cure Hemifacial Spasm
If you’ve seen a facial pain specialist for help with your hemifacial spasm, you might have already been prescribed medicines or injections. For some people, antiepileptic or sedative medicines can reduce facial spasms by relaxing your muscles, although they often have side effects, such as drowsiness. Some doctors use Botox injections to treat hemifacial spasm, which occasionally cause double vision or eyelid drooping in the short term. These treatments work for many patients with hemifacial spasm but not all of them.
Some cases of hemifacial spasm don’t respond to pills or injections. If you’ve already tried other treatments, you might be interested to find out how to cure hemifacial spasm through surgery. A surgical technique known as MVD can cure many cases of hemifacial spasm.
What Is MVD?
MVD stands for microvascular decompression. This technique is used to treat hemifacial spasm as well as certain types of facial pain. It’s most often used to treat severe spasms that haven’t responded to other treatments.
MVD is carried out under general anesthesia. When you visit the hospital or surgical center, an anesthetist will put you to sleep before the surgeon makes a small cut in your skin near your ear. The operating team might need to shave a small area of hair close to the ear to give the surgeon access to the skin. After cutting the skin, the surgeon makes a small opening in the bone to access the nerves that control the muscles in your face.
The surgeon examines the nerves and the surrounding structures to see what is causing the spasms. He can then repair the problem by inserting a small Teflon sponge to isolate the nerves from blood vessels and other structures around them. Once the repair is complete, the surgeon closes the skin back up. Throughout the operation, the anesthetist monitors you to ensure you stay safe, stable and asleep.
After the surgery, doctors will test your facial activity to find out whether the surgery has reduced or stopped the spasms. You’ll need to stay in the hospital or surgical center while you recover from the anesthetic, but most patients go home within a day or two. The doctor will let you know how to take care of yourself at home, including how to clean the surgical wound and when you can get back to normal activities, including bathing, exercising and driving.
How Does MVD Cure Hemifacial Spasm?
Hemifacial spasm is usually caused by pressure on the nerves that control your facial muscles. This pressure repeatedly triggers the nerves, causing them to twitch involuntarily. MVD works by either removing the blood vessel that is pressing on these nerves or placing a tiny cushion between the vessel and the nerve to stop the pressure.
Does MVD Work?
MVD isn’t a suitable treatment for every person who is experiencing hemifacial spasm. A doctor will need to evaluate your particular case and weigh the risks and benefits for you as an individual. MVD is usually recommended for people whose spasms haven’t been helped by medications or injections.
MVD can be a safe and effective treatment for hemifacial spasm. In good surgical candidates, MVD surgery completely eliminates or significantly reduces spasm 80 to 90 percent of the time.
MVD Side Effects
Like all medical procedures, MVD can have side effects, although not everyone experiences them. Many patients have pain at the surgical site for a few days after the surgery, but this pain is controllable with pain relief medications. You may also feel nauseous from the anesthetic, but this should wear off quickly. In rare cases, MVD can result in hearing or vision problems or cause weakness in the face muscles, but many people don’t have any of these serious complications. The MVD process is designed to minimize the chance of damaging important facial nerves during the surgery.
Is MVD Right for You?
It’s impossible for doctors to say whether MVD is the right treatment for you until they have met you and assessed your spasms. Doctors usually consider several methods when deciding how to cure hemifacial spasm, including medications and MVD. People who come to a surgical center have usually tried other treatments for their facial spasm, but these haven’t worked.
If you have tried other treatments for your hemifacial spasm without success, don’t lose hope. Doctors may be able to stop your spasms by using the MVD technique. If you suffer from hemifacial spasm and other treatments don’t seem to be helping, ask your doctor whether MVD might be a suitable treatment for you.
