**4. Diagnosis**

A diagnosis of Bell's palsy is essentially a clinical one and is based on the exclusion of potential other causes of facial weakness. Thorough clinical evaluations suffice in most cases, and they do not require elaborate investigations. Risk factors for Bell's palsy include pregnancy, preeclampsia, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and upper respiratory ailments. The etiology, prognosis, and degree of facial paralysis are quite variable, and it is not possible to draw a treatment plan which fits to all [1, 6]. Thus, we must exclude other causes of facial palsy in the first instance.

MRI studies are needed on the suspicion of intracranial lesions such as tumors, stroke, and demyelination [7]. The role of electrophysiological tests such as nerve excitability test, maximum stimulation test, electroneuronography, electromyography, etc., though limited in diagnosis, is recommended for assessing regeneration of the nerve and synkinesia.
