Abstract

Facial spasms are stereotyped, often synchronous movements that either involve the periocular area alone or extend to involve the face and neck. These are forms of dystonia caused by involuntary contractions of affected muscles and are characterized by increased blinking, orbicularis spasm, and apraxia of eyelid opening. Patients have difficulty keeping their eyelids open, which causes visual disturbance or functional blindness. The exact etiology of these conditions is still not clearly understood. Treatment options include both medical and surgical methods with sub-optimal success. Another end of this spectrum is the inability to close the eyelids by dis-innervation of the orbicularis muscle secondary to facial nerve palsy. The visual disturbances result from lagophthalmos and exposure keratopathy. Intervention delay can lead to corneal ulceration, perforation, and blindness. In this course, the management of both entities are explained with videos by expert instructors.

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