The blood supply to the face is an important section of anatomy for doctors of any specialty. But it acquires the greatest importance in maxillofacial surgery and cosmetology. An ideal knowledge of the innervation and blood supply of a person in cosmetology guarantees the safety of injection procedures.
Why do I need to know the anatomy of the face?
Before you begin to study the blood supply to the face and its anatomy as a whole, you should clearly understand why this knowledge is needed at all. For cosmetologists, the following aspects play the greatest role:
- When using botulinum toxin ("Botox"), there should be a clear idea of the location of the facial muscles, their beginning and end, the vessels and nerves that supply them. Only with a clear understanding of the anatomy can successful injections be carried out without any aesthetic disturbances.
- When carrying out procedures using needles, you also need to understand well the structure of muscles, and especially nerves. With knowledge of the innervation of the face, the cosmetologist will never damage the nerve.
- Knowing the anatomy of the face is important not only for the successful implementation of the procedures, but also in order to recognize a specific disease in time. After all, a person who came to a beautician to correct wrinkles may actually have facial paresis. And such a pathology is treated by a neurologist.
Types of facial muscles and their functions
To understand the blood supply to the muscles of the face, you should understand what they are. They are divided into two large groups:
From the name, the basic functions of these muscles are clear. Chewing muscles are necessary for chewing food, facial muscles - for expressing emotions. A cosmetologist works with facial muscles, so it is most important for him to know the structure of this group.
Facial muscles. Muscles of the eye and nose
This muscle group includes thin bundles of striated muscle that are grouped around natural openings. That is, they are located around the mouth, eyes, nose and ears. By closing or opening these holes, emotions are formed.
The facial muscles are closely related to the skin. They are woven into it with one or two ends. Over time, the water in the body becomes smaller and the muscles lose their elasticity. This is how wrinkles appear.
Due to the proximity of the muscles to the skin, the blood supply to the face is also very superficial. Therefore, even the slightest scratch can lead to serious loss of blood.
The following muscles are located around the palpebral fissure:
- The arrogant muscle - it originates from the back of the nose and ends in the nose. It lowers the skin of the bridge of the nose down, resulting in a "dissatisfied" fold.
- The circular muscle of the eye - completely surrounds the palpebral fissure. Due to her, her eyes are closed, her eyelids are closed.
Around the nose is actually the nasal muscle. She is not very well developed. One part of it lowers the wing of the nose, and the other - the cartilaginous part of the nasal septum.
Facial muscles of the mouth
The mouth surrounds more muscles. These include:
- The muscle that lifts the upper lip.
- Small zygomatic muscle.
- Big zygomatic muscle.
- Muscle laughter.
- Muscle lowering the angle of the mouth.
- Muscle lifting the corner of the mouth.
- Muscle lowering the lower lip.
- The chin muscle.
- Buccal muscle.
- Circular muscle of the mouth.
Features of blood circulation
The blood supply to the face is very plentiful. It consists of a network of arteries, veins and capillaries, which are closely located to each other and the skin, and are also constantly intertwined.
The facial arteries are located in subcutaneous fat.
Veins of the face collect blood from both the superficial and deep parts of the facial skull. Ultimately, all the blood flows into the internal jugular vein, which is located on the neck along the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
Arteries of the face
The largest percentage of blood supply to the face and neck is from vessels that extend from the external carotid artery. The largest arteries are listed below:
- facial;
- infraorbital;
- subblock;
- infraorbital
- chin.
The branches of the facial artery guarantee most of the blood supply to the face. It branches off from the external carotid artery at the level of the lower jaw. From here it goes to the corner of the mouth, and then it approaches the corner of the palpebral fissure, closer to the nose. At the level of the mouth, branches carrying blood to the lips depart from the facial artery. When the artery approaches the corner of the palpebral fissure, it is already called the angular artery. Here she binds to the dorsal artery of the nose. The latter, in turn, departs from the suprablock artery - the branch of the ophthalmic artery.
The infraorbital artery delivers blood to the superciliary arches. The infraorbital vessel, according to its name, carries blood to the face area under the eyeball.
The chin artery provides blood supply to the lower lip and, in fact, the chin.
Face veins
Through the veins of the face, poorly oxygenated blood is collected in the internal jugular vein, and then through the system of vessels to reach the heart.
From the surface layers of the muscles of the face, blood is collected from the facial and posterior jaw veins. From the layers that lie deeper, the blood carries the maxillary vein.
The venous vessels of the face also have anastomoses (joints) with veins that go to the cavernous sinus. This is the formation of the hard shell of the brain. The vessels of the face are connected to this structure through the ophthalmic vein. Due to this, infection from the face can spread to the lining of the brain. Therefore, even a simple boil can cause meningitis (inflammation of the meninges).
Facial nerves
The blood supply and innervation of the face are inextricably linked. As a rule, branching of nerves goes along arterial vessels.
There are sensory and motor nerves. Most of the face receives a nerve impulse from two large nerves:
- Facial, which is completely motor.
- Trigeminal, which consists of motor and sensory fibers. But sensitive fibers are involved in the innervation of the face, and motor fibers go to the masticatory muscles.
The trigeminal nerve, in turn, branches out into three more nerves: the ophthalmic, maxillary and mandibular. The first branch is also divided into three: nasal, frontal and lacrimal.
The frontal branch passes over the eyeball along the upper wall of the orbit and is divided into the supraorbital and suprablock nerves on the face. These branches send nerve impulses to the skin of the forehead and nose, the inner lining of the upper eyelid (conjunctiva), and the mucosa of the frontal sinus.
The lacrimal nerve innervates the temporal part of the palpebral fissure. From the nasociliary nerve, the ethmoid nerve departs, the final branch of which passes through the ethmoid labyrinth.
The maxillary nerve has its branches:
- infraorbital
- zygomatic, which is then divided into zygomatic and zygomatic.
The innervated areas of the face correspond to the name of these nerves.
The largest branch of the mandibular nerve is the ear-temporal nerve, which ensures the delivery of nerve impulses to the skin of the auricle and condyle.
Thus, from this article you learned the main points of the anatomy of the blood supply to the face. This knowledge will help in further studying the structure of the facial part of the skull.