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Facial palsy is a condition of frequent occurrence that affects the face and the facial expression. Amongst the possible etiologies it will be highlighted one uncommon occurrence, Otomastoiditis. Speech therapy starting early collaborates for the return of mobility and function of the muscles thus preventing muscle atrophy and minimizing synkinesis and contracture. The study objective was to rehabilitate a patient affected by facial paralysis after otomastoiditis with early intervention and describe the implementation and effectiveness of a proposal for differentiated and unusual therapeutic intervention. In the methodology we chose specific miofunctional exercises, audiological assessment and monitoring. The results, after nine weeks of follow-up, showed a significant improvement in the symmetry of the smile, adequacy of stomatognathic functions and presence of acoustic stapedial reflexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It has become common to use scales to measure the degree of involvement of facial paralysis in phonoaudiological clinics., Objective: To analyze the inter- and intra-rater agreement of the scales of degree of facial paralysis and to elicit point of view of the appraisers regarding their use., Methods: Cross-sectional observational clinical study of the Chevalier and House & Brackmann scales performed by five speech therapists with clinical experience, who analyzed the facial expression of 30 adult subjects with impaired facial movements two times, with a one week interval between evaluations. The kappa analysis was employed., Results: There was excellent inter-rater agreement for both scales (kappa>0.80), and on the Chevalier scale a substantial intra-rater agreement in the first assessment (kappa=0.792) and an excellent agreement in the second assessment (kappa=0.928). The House & Brackmann scale showed excellent agreement at both assessments (kappa=0.850 and 0.857). As for the appraisers' point of view, one appraiser thought prior training is necessary for the Chevalier scale and, four appraisers felt that training is important for the House & Brackmann scale., Conclusion: Both scales have good inter- and intra-rater agreement and most of the appraisers agree on the ease and relevance of the application of these scales., (Copyright © 2014 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)