Is Bell’s Palsy keeping you from working? You may be able to qualify for disability benefits.

Bell’s Palsy (BP) is a form of acute peripheral facial nerve palsy affecting the seventh cranial nerve. This nerve is responsible for controlling facial movements, and also plays a role in taste and tear and saliva production.

One of the most significant effects of Bell’s Palsy is facial paralysis. This can cause Bell’s Palsy to sometimes be confused with a stroke because they both share this same sign. However, the precise cause of Bell’s Palsy isn’t fully understood. It’s thought to involve inflammation or swelling of the seventh cranial nerve, and is distinct from a stroke.

Still, anyone experiencing facial paralysis should not assume that it is Bell’s Palsy, and should immediately seek a medical evaluation.

The severity of the effects of Bell’s Palsy can vary from person to person. Some individuals report relatively mild facial weakness, while others experience nearly complete paralysis on one side of the face.

Because the severity of the condition can vary so greatly, a diagnosis alone is often not enough to qualify a person for disability benefits.

The symptoms of Bell’s Palsy can appear virtually overnight. Within 42-78 hours of onset, individuals may experience:

• Facial drooping
• Weakness or paralysis on one side of their face
• Difficulty or inability to close one eye or blink
• Drooling and difficulty controlling saliva
• Difficulty eating or chewing
• Difficulty drinking without spilling liquid from the mouth
  Pain around the jaw or behind the ear
• Changes in sense of taste
• Dryness or irritation of the affected eye
• Changes in tear production

Not every person with Bell’s Palsy will experience every one of these symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they can last for weeks or months at a time. Some individuals will notice signs of improvement within a few weeks, with complete recovery often occurring in within about 6 months.

However, some people may experience continual facial weakness or paralysis or other lasting effects.

Those who experience longer-lasting symptoms of Bell’s Palsy may experience facial spasms and abnormal involuntary movements, speech or articulation difficulties, eye complications, and persistent facial weakness, and ongoing facial discomfort.

Bell’s Palsy is a significant medical condition, but the question “can you get disability for Bell’s Palsy?” depends largely on how the condition affects your ability to perform your work duties.

In most cases, a diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy alone is not enough for an insurer to approve a claimant for Short or Long Term Disability. You need to demonstrate to the insurer how your condition prevents you from working.

Because Bell’s Palsy doesn’t directly affect a person’s intelligence, concentration, memory, or their ability to perform many physical tasks, documenting how it impacts your work can be difficult.

Some types of work may be more directly affected by the symptoms of Bell’s Palsy than others. For example, occupations where the person is required to speak or communicate heavily can be affected. Bell’s Palsy can create difficulty in articulation and pronunciation of words, which can affect those who serve customers, clients, patients, students, or coworkers.

That can place functional limitations on people who work as salespeople, teachers, attorneys, customer service representatives, therapists, receptionists, and others who spend a large portion of their workday actively speaking.

Individuals whose jobs require prolonged screen usage can also have their work ability affected by Bell’s Palsy. Dryness and irritation of the affected eye, along with other eye-related symptoms, can make prolonged screen use difficult. That can affect software engineers, receptionists, or office workers who spend most of their day in front of a computer screen.

If you’re unsure of how severely your Bell’s Palsy affects your ability to work, consulting with a disability attorney can help you understand your options.