Lewis Powell's Jaw

[Natty]

(08-24-2012 10:17 AM)Houmes Wrote:  Sylvester Stallone's injury was different from the nerve affecting Mr. Powell. Stallone had a Facial nerve injury from either improperly placed or "rigorously used" obstetrical forceps. That's why many docs are now trained to use a vacuum extractor (one type looks very much like a toilet plunger) to the top of the baby's head during difficult deliveries. The Facial nerve injury is a whole different ballgame from an inferior alveolar nerve injury. Facial nerves control facial expressions, control of eating (classic example in adults is Bell's Palsy, where they have trouble keeping food in one side of the mouth, often drooling saliva) and have different degrees of facial paralysis with a facial droop. Find a copy of the one known image of William Seward after Powell's attack and that's a facial nerve injury. I would suspect Powell's healed jaw, since it appears to have a malformation in photographs of his skull and from life, gave him more problems than numbness of the skin.

Thank you very much for the information! I just have a few more questions, please bear with me!
How do you think that Lewis' malformed skull would have given him problems specifically, aside from its crooked appearance?
Was he able to fully use his entire mouth, without any numbness or disadvantages from the nerve damage? Was the protruding lip and slant to his mouth purely a result of the skull deformation?

You are very kind to help me here! Much appreciated!