Dr. Nina Lu, MD, facial plastic surgeon and director of the Facial Nerve Center at the University of Washington (UW), and Emily Wilson, MS, CCC-SLP, a facial therapist and lecturer at UW, join host Sarah Baar for an eye-opening look at interdisciplinary care for facial nerve paralysis. Sarah dives into this underexplored topic with curiosity, asking how therapists and surgeons can truly partner in meaningful ways. Together, they unpack what collaboration looks like in practice, explore evidence-based approaches to facial retraining, and reflect on the power of aligning goals with patient priorities. If you’ve ever wondered where facial therapy fits into your scope—or how to build bridges across disciplines—this conversation is for you.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyze the evidence around individualized treatment planning for facial paralysis resulting from peripheral nerve injury
• Determine the situations in which interdisciplinary collaboration enhances patient outcomes in facial nerve rehabilitation
• Solve patient case scenarios involving peripheral facial nerve paralysis by applying collaborative treatment planning between therapists and surgeons

Timestamps

• (00:00:00) Welcome
• (00:00:05) Introduction to facial nerve injury and therapy
• (00:04:54) Understanding facial paralysis: causes and patient diversity
• (00:08:11) The role of multidisciplinary clinics in treatment
• (00:12:47) Collaboration between otolaryngologists and speech-language pathologists
• (00:17:45) Patient goals and outcomes in facial therapy
• (00:23:20) Assessment and measurement in facial therapy
• (00:28:15) Billing and therapy codes: navigating the system
• (00:29:41) Collaboration between therapists and physicians
• (00:33:29) Understanding synkinesis: a complex recovery
• (00:35:36) Therapeutic techniques: soft-tissue mobilization
• (00:41:02) Patient engagement: the key to successful therapy
• (00:45:30) The multidisciplinary approach to facial reanimation
• (00:47:46) Networking for facial therapy: building connections
• (00:52:40) Actionable takeaways for clinicians
• (00:56:21) Final thoughts: the future of facial therapy

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