Facial Muscles - Upper Group

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Description

The muscles of the upper portion of the face can be divided into 2 groups:

1. Orbital Facial Muscles
2. Nasal Facial Muscles

We will examine the 2 groups separately.

Orbital Facial Muscles

There are 3 Orbital Facial Muscles:

Occipitofrontalis (often referred to simply as Frontalis)

Orbicularis Oculi

Corrugator Supercilii

Occipitofrontalis

Origin and insertion

Occipitofrontalis is one of the muscles of the scalp. It consists of 2 separate bellies:

• Occipital part - which originates from occipital bone (lateral part of the upper nuchal line) and from the mastoid aspect of the temporal bone.
• Frontal part - originates from the superior fibres of the other upper facial muscles (ie. orbicularis oculi, corrugator supercilii and procerus
• Both parts insert into the galea aponeurotica in the scalp

Nerve and blood supply

Nerve supply is the Facial Nerve (CN VII), with the occipital belly supplied by the posterior auricular branch, and the frontal belly by the temporal branch.

Blood supply of the occipital portion is from the occipital artery, and the frontal segment is supplied by the supraorbital and supratrochlear arteries.

Function

The frontalis portion elevates the eyebrows, which causes the horizontal wrinkles in the forehead/

It also weakly moves the skin of the scalp anteriorly

The occiptal part weakly moves the scalp skin posteriorly.

Orbicularis Oculi

Surrounding the eye is the orbicularis oculi, a sphincter muscle which consists of 3 sections: the orbital, the palpebral and the lachrymal portions.

Origin

It originates from the anterior surface of the orbital margin, the rim of the eye socket.