Facial Artery

What is a facial artery?

Your facial artery is an artery that runs through a large part of your neck and face. You have one facial artery on each side of your face, ending on either side of your nose and mouth.

Healthcare providers used to call this artery your external maxillary artery.

What does the facial artery supply?

Your facial artery supplies blood to the parts of your face that are closer to the surface. These include:

• Many muscles in your face.
• The roof of your mouth.
• Tonsils.
• Cheeks.
• Chin.
• Lips.
• Nose.
• Salivary glands.

If a surgeon removes a tumor from your head or neck, they may rely on your facial artery to supply blood to the areas they reconstruct.

Where is the facial artery located?

Your facial artery starts in the side of your neck and runs diagonally across your cheek. It ends just below your eye. On the way from your neck to your cheek, your facial artery crosses over your jawbone.

Your facial artery branches off from your external carotid artery, which runs up and down the side of your neck. If you don’t have an external carotid artery, your facial artery may branch off of your internal or common carotid artery. It also might come from the same base as your lingual artery instead of having its own separate starting point.

What are the parts of a facial artery?

Facial artery anatomy includes branches that start from two different parts of the facial artery.

Branches of the facial artery in your neck are the:

• Ascending palatine artery.
• Tonsillar branch.
• Submental artery.
• Glandular branches.

Facial artery branches in your face are the:

• Inferior labial artery (to your lower lip).
• Superior labial artery (to your upper lip).
• Lateral nasal branch (to your nose).
• Angular artery (where it ends along the side of your nose).

What does a facial artery look like?

Your facial artery has twists that allow it to stretch while you’re chewing or moving your mouth in other ways. Some people have facial arteries that are larger than normal or didn’t develop completely.

All of your arteries, including your facial artery, have a hollow space inside their tubelike structure. Your blood goes through this hollow space. Arteries have three layers, including muscles that adjust the size of the hollow space inside.

What are the common conditions and disorders that affect your facial artery?

Conditions that can affect your facial artery include:

• Temporal arteritis (giant cell arteritis).
• Atherosclerosis in your common carotid artery, which gives your facial artery its blood supply.
• Cosmetic injections (fillers) going into or compressing your facial artery by mistake.

What are the common signs or symptoms of facial artery conditions?

Symptoms of facial artery conditions include:

• Pain in your jaw.
• Double vision.
• Fatigue.
• Pain at the site of the filler injection.
• Blue or gray skin at the filler injection site.

If you have a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), you have atherosclerosis in your carotid artery (which sends blood to your facial artery).

What are the common tests to check the health of your facial artery?

Healthcare providers can use imaging to see your facial artery in a noninvasive way. They may use:

• Ultrasound (sound waves).
• Computed tomography or CT scan (X-rays and a computer).

They also may do blood tests.

What are the common treatments for your facial artery?

Treatments for conditions that affect your facial artery may include:

• Taking corticosteroids for temporal arteritis.
• Tapping, massaging or heating the filler injection site area.
• Injecting a substance to dissolve the cosmetic filler.
• Taking medicines to lower your cholesterol or prevent blood clots if you have atherosclerosis.

How do you care for your facial artery?

You can take care of your facial artery the same way you care for your other blood vessels. You can:

• Avoid tobacco products.
• Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Eat lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Limit how much salt you eat.
• Exercise on most days of the week.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

When you move your mouth and cheeks, you’re probably not thinking about the blood supply that lets your face’s muscles work. But your facial arteries make sure the lower part of your face has the oxygen it needs. Regular checkups with your provider can help you keep all of your arteries healthy.