Facial expression is a good example of an important kind of
communication that is not speech. We all, perhaps without realising, take a lot
of notice of the facial expressions around us and it is often the first thing
we notice about people. We may decide to give the boss a wide berth because he
looks grumpy, or pass several people in the street before we see someone who looks friendly
enough to ask for directions.
There are several things you can do to help yourself and
the first is to try to maintain a good posture. If you can, try to look someone
‘in the eye’. This will help with posture. Perhaps surprisingly, our second
suggestion entails looking in the mirror. Facial exercises, for example,
frowning and screwing up your eyes, then moving down your face to grins, yawns and
smiles, can help to keep the muscles of your face more mobile and are best done
in front of a mirror. Try saying a suitable word or phrase while doing these exercises – you could say ‘lovely to see
you’ when you smile, for example, or ‘I’m bored to tears’ when you yawn. So practise
frowning, then opening and closing your eyes, wrinkling your nose, puffing out
and sucking in your cheeks, whistling, smiling and yawning. A local speech and
language therapist will be able to suggest other, individualised, exercises for
you to try.
The third thing you can do is to tell your relations and
friends that lack of facial expression is one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s
and that they should be aware that your face may be giving out inaccurate messages.
We are afraid that you may have to repeat this information many times because
our normal response to facial expression is deeply ingrained and we can be
disconcerted and upset by, for example, the absence of smiles, even when we have been told that it is a
common symptom of Parkinson’s. Partners, relatives and friends may need to be
helped to understand and make allowances for this feature, especially in the
early days after diagnosis.
