Can my doctor be sure I have Bell's Palsy without an MRI or CT?

Question

The urgent care doc diagnosed me with Bell's Palsy and so did my primary care physician today. Is it bad that they didn't do a CT or MRI? My doc said that she's sure it's Bell's Palsy and didn't see a reason to do an MRI or CT.

Answer 1

Bell´s Palsy is diagnosed based on the findings during a neurological physical exam. It is usually quite obvious to an experienced physician. Further examinations such as X-ray, CT scan or MRI would generally be requested only if the physician wanted to rule out another possible cause of the facial paralysis, for example a stroke in an older patient or a fracture after an accident that may have damaged the nerve.

Answer 2

CT or MRI will not show anything in a Bell's palsy.  Now if you have more than one bout, different story. Then they have to start looking for the cause. Ask your doc to check you for Lyme disease this bout.

Answer 3

I had Bell's Palsy and I didn't have any of those things done to me.  I hope it clears up quickly for you.  A tip if they didn't tell you, because they didn't tell me and it took 2 trips to the doctor and 2 trips to a specialized eye doctor, put some eye gel in your eye and tape it shut at night otherwise it will dry out and you will have vision problems.  Good Luck!!

Answer 4

My best friend had that.  She didn't have a ct scan or MRI.  Doctors are pretty much trained to identify problems like that.

Answer 5

Bells palsy is temporary form of paralysis of facial nerve which regulates movements of facial muscles.

Bells palsy can be very well diagnosed by thorough medical history ,clinical examination of patient including distorted facial appearance,ear- examination and ruling out other causes of facial paralysis/paresis.

Usually CT/MRI not required but sometimes if there is doubt or doctor needs to evaluate and exclude other causes of pressure on facial nerve he may advice CT/MRI along with EMG ( study of electrical activity of muscle in response to nerve stimulation).

Answer 6

Yes, it can be diagnosed with out a CT or MRI... and you should be happy that they didn't do those extra tests... saves you some money.