Bell's Palsy - Diagnosis

Diagnosis

Bell's palsy is a diagnosis of exclusion; by elimination of other reasonable possibilities. Therefore, by definition, no specific cause can be ascertained. Bell's palsy is commonly referred to as idiopathic or cryptogenic, meaning that it is due to unknown causes. Being a residual diagnostic category, the Bell's Palsy diagnosis likely spans different conditions that our current level of medical knowledge cannot distinguish. This may inject fundamental uncertainty into the discussion below of etiology, treatment options, recovery patterns, etc. See also the section below on Other symptoms. Studies show that a large number of patients (45%) are not referred to a specialist, which suggests that Bell’s palsy is considered by physicians to be a straightforward diagnosis that is easy to manage. A significant number of cases are misdiagnosed (Ibid.). This is unsurprising from a diagnosis of exclusion, which depends on a thorough investigation.