The rehabilitation therapists at Fairview’s Facial Paralysis Clinic provide specialized rehabilitation for people who have facial nerve damage resulting in facial paralysis. It gives hope to those whose eyes or smile are changed by illness, disease or trauma.

Treatment is based on techniques that help to diminish paralysis and improve control of face and mouth muscles. Facial retraining does not restore the nerve damage causing paralysis, rather, it improves muscle control and strength and reduces involuntary facial movements such as eye closure when smiling. People who experience difficulty speaking clearly, drinking from a cup, eating, or who frequently bite the cheek or tongue also benefit from rehabilitation.

Conditions we treat
We treat facial paralysis resulting from:

• acoustic neuroma and other tumors 
• Bell's palsy 
• cancer 
• birth defects 
• Guillian-Barre syndrome 
• post-surgical conditions 
• Ramsay Hunt syndrome (herpes zoster) 
• traumatic injury 
• brain tumor 
• stroke

Treatment we offer
Our rehabilitation therapists evaluate your facial movement patterns and design an in-clinic and home exercise program tailored to your needs. Follow-up visits allow therapists to refine your program as needed. Therapeutic care includes:

• biofeedback training to improve awareness and control of specific facial muscles 
• an individualized rehabilitation plan to learn coordinated movement patterns to increase activity in weak muscles and decrease activity in hyperactive muscles. 
• relaxation and massage techniques to help reduce muscle tightness.

Contact information
University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
Riverside campus
Outpatient Rehab Services
2512 So. 7th St., Third floor
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Information:  612-273-7560
Appointments:  612-273-6228

MAP