Facial Injuries and Disorders—Bacterial Infections

Bacteria are living things that have only one cell. Under a microscope, they look like balls, rods, or spirals. They are so small that a line of 1,000 could fit across a pencil eraser. Most bacteria won’t hurt you – less than 1 percent of the different types make people sick. Many are helpful. Some bacteria help to digest food, destroy disease-causing cells, and give the body needed vitamins. Bacteria are also used in making healthy foods like yogurt and cheese.

But infectious bacteria can make you ill. They reproduce quickly in your body. Many give off chemicals called toxins, which can damage tissue and make you sick. Examples of bacteria that cause infections include Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and E. coli.

Antibiotics are the usual treatment. When you take antibiotics, follow the directions carefully. Each time you take antibiotics, you increase the chances that bacteria in your body will learn to resist them causing antibiotic resistance. Later, you could get or spread an infection that those antibiotics cannot cure.

NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• Actinomycosis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bacterial vaginosis — aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Blood culture (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Gram stain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Gram stain of skin lesion (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Necrotizing soft tissue infection (Medical Encyclopedia)

Face injuries and disorders can cause pain and affect how you look. In severe cases, they can affect sight, speech, breathing and your ability to swallow. Broken bones, especially the bones of your nose, cheekbone and jaw, are common facial injuries.

Certain diseases also lead to facial disorders. For example, nerve diseases like trigeminal neuralgia or Bell’s palsy sometimes cause facial pain, spasms and trouble with eye or facial movement. Birth defects can also affect the face. They can cause underdeveloped or unusually prominent facial features or a lack of facial expression. Cleft lip and palate are a common facial birth defect.

• Face pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Facial nerve palsy due to birth trauma (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Facial paralysis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Facial trauma (Medical Encyclopedia)