Massa crashes after being hit by heave spring

[Giblet]

Yuo only need to sever one or two of the nerves for this to happen. That was a nice picture of face muscles your provided, but has little to do with the nerves. Most of these muscles and their nerves lie on the outside of the skull. A deep cut to the nerves could still be true.

"the facial nerve" is a misnomer, there are too many.


Branch of CN VII Location of Lesion Actions
Posterior auricular Posterior auricular Pulls ear backward
Occipitofrontalis, occipital belly Moves scalp backward
Temporal Anterior auricular Pulls ear forward
Superior auricular Raises ear
Occipitofrontalis, occipital belly Moves scalp forward
Corrugator supercilii Pulls eyebrow medially and downward
Procerus Pulls medial eyebrow downward
Temporal and zygomatic Orbicularis oculi Closes eyelids and contracts skin around eye
Zygomatic and buccal Zygomaticus major Elevates corners of mouth
Buccal Zygomaticus minor Elevates upper lip
Levator labii superioris Elevates upper lip and midportion nasolabial fold
Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi Elevates medial nasolabial fold and nasal ala
Risorius Aids smile with lateral pull
Buccinator Pulls corner of mouth backward and compresses cheek
Levator anguli oris Pulls angles of mouth upward and toward midline
Orbicularis Closes and compresses lips
Nasalis, dilator naris Flares nostrils
Nasalis, compressor naris Compresses nostrils
Buccal and marginal mandibular Depressor anguli oris Pulls corner of mouth downward
Depressor labii inferioris Pulls lower lip downward
Marginal mandibular Mentalis Pulls skin of chin upward
Cervical Platysma Pulls down corners of mouth

The pictures I look at show many of these nerves close to the surface, and that lesions will stop them from working, not deep and unreachable by cuts.

I just don't see it as unlikely I guess

[Scotracer]

Can some please change the title of this thread to a correct spelling? It's been like this since July and it's driving me mad now!

[andartop]

You missed the point completely. Please read my post again.
In case you still don't get it, the summary is that Massa got injured right above his eye. You said that you noticed he could not lift the eyebrow. The muscle that lifts the eyebrow extends quite far away from the area Massa got injured. The branches of the nerve that supply this muscle lie even further away.
For the whole muscle to get paralyzed you would need most of these branches severed.
You would get the same effect by severing the muscle itself, or its attachment, which lies exactly in the area where Massa got injured. Thus, I think the second scenario seems more likely.
Yes, a deep cut could reach the nerves, but then again the muscle itself would be severed first.
No, there aren't "many" facial nerves, just two, left and right, and what you listed there are the branches they provide.
Here's another artistic impression:
http://radiopaedia.org/uploads/images/0 ... anches.jpg
The transparency you might notice is there to show that the nerves actually lie deeper than the muscles. Nature is wise.

[richard_leeds]

the corrugator supercilii muscle or even the occipitofrontalis muscle

Nice to see technical stuff on a technical forum, thanks.

[Giblet]

I was watching Massa in his quali interview, and he does seem to have no mobility of his left eyebrow. He lifted his brow three times during discussion, and only his right arched. I think unfortunately, as much as I didn't want to be right, the healing was not 100%. I am still horrified by my own personal accident, being 1/2 inch away from having a limp hand at the end of my right arm. I would have made one hell of a slapper though. Losing an eyebrow is nothing unless you are Eugene Levy.



As for the heave spring, I thought it was a spelling error as well, but it is in fact called a heave spring.

It's good to finally be able to say after two races that Felipe is fine, and he has not suffered any kind of serious problems that can be associated with such an injury.

[DaveKillens]

I too am happy that Massa'a horrific accident did not appear to posess any visible signs of brain damage. That, above all was my concern. But not only is he back, but so far has been the only man to stand on the podium.

There had to be a lot of support for Massa, from the doctors and therapists to his family and loved ones who obviously worked hard behind the scenes to return this fine man to health.

[Mystery Steve]

It's absolutely great to see Felipe doing as well as he is. It would have been fantastic just to see him live a normal life, let alone be competitive in Formula 1.

I don't know anything about the muscle/nerve debate, but from personal experience his external scarring seems to be healing very well. I had plastic surgery below my right eye about 6 years ago, and I don't think my scarring looked as good as his does at the roughly 3/4 year mark. And my operation was under completely controlled circumstances. Thankfully, I wasn't hit in face with a spring at over 150 mph.

Hopefully, Felipe isn't experiencing any secondary side effects of anything away from the track. But he's definitely lucky to have the kind of support he has between Ferrari and his family.