newbie to bells palsy

[justin7]

Hi have had bells palsy diagosed a week last sunday in my local a+e dept, so all a bit new / scary. cant get through to local hospital ent dept now for follow up telephone appointment. so i thought i would join as its an abnormal situation around the world currently and ongoing treatment/ etc is not forthcoming. doing the facial exercises daily , slightly sore on the affected sidevetc but fatigue is an issue and working from home where possible but eye fatigue and general healthcare is something that noone can prepare you for as in the time everything now takes. any messages / responbse appreciated cheers mark

[Karen-FPUK Partner]

Hi, the main thing you should have been given by a&e are steroids and eye drops. Even under normal circumstances they don't tend to follow up quickly. You mention exercises, please ensure you only do the routines in our video here: facialpalsy.org.uk/support/...

Don't be tempted to look for other exercises on YouTube as there are many videos out there that can do more harm than good to your recovery. Try and think of it like a broken leg, you would rest your leg to recover, not keep trying to walk on it. You need to give your body time to heal and that means rest. Do manual blinks (use finger to close your eye regularly) and reduce your screen time if you can. I hope you feel better soon.

[justin7 in reply to Karen-FPUK]

Thankyou karen, yes, course of steriods taken and eye drops in use, will continue with light massage of face as its slightly sore to the affected side currently .now dealing with higher blood pressure than usual but now have 3 weeks of furlough from work so aim to rest where possible and look after myself more than i have done of late thanks again for your reply regards mark

[Hidden]

Rest is very important. Listen to your body and don't fight it. Gentle facial massage is helpful. I found that eye gel was more soothing than eye drops particularly at night, and taping the eye closed when it became sore. I listened to audio books as it was too painful to read. Use this time to rest as much as possible .

[Yazmwells95]

Hi Justin,

I was diagnosed with it on Tuesday. Scary stuff for me as I’m 24 and never had it. They scared me with potential stroke first. I’m on day three of steroids but not much happening yet. I’m on the sick from work as I wouldn’t be surprised if stress induced it ( I work in Dv). If you have any good videos that you have been using that be amazing as my face hasn’t moved much aha

Get well soon

Thanks

[justin7 in reply to Yazmwells95]

Hi there use the bells palsy official website for their gentle facial massage techniques videos facialpalsy.org.uk/support/ and do these every day. i have had it for over 3 weeks now (inc 7 day course of steroids )and have had some improvement currently lately in my facial movement and reduced numbness but it is slow progress! . keep calm and carry on and try to use your time to rest where possible. personally i have got into a routine while on furlough leave and improved my diet/ exercise regime a little and stopped smoking to aid my blood pressure etc , i do hope this finds you well and good luck going forward all the very best mark