About Bell's palsy.

[JannatJannat]

Hey,my daughter is 11 year old,and she got the facial/bell's palsy almost 6 days ago.Now she is so depressed and barely smiles.Her face looks almost normal by the grace of god.But she can't blink,whistle,and her smile looks u know,kinda weird.She went to the doctor and he said it's due to her ear piecring(she pierced her ear the day before her half face got paralized).The doctor said it can even be due to cold,cough.He didn't say say anything abot facial palsy.But most of the symptoms are matching.Her father is also supporting the doctor.Now should I worry too much because she has teary eyes,not ability to blink,whistle or to close her eyes completely,even her smile is not straight...

[JannatJannat]

Please reply anyone!

[Mrs_Ballroom in reply to JannatJannat]

First, I hope she’s using eye drops during the day and taping her eye shut at night to protect her eye. Sunglasses outside that cover as much of her eye as possible. I use a night eye ointment when taping and find Glad Press N’ Seal works well with no adhesive to bother my skin. Next, I’m not a doctor but she should get another doctor. It sounds like BP… or some sort of palsy.

[Mrs_Ballroom in reply to Mrs_Ballroom]

Usually prednisone and/or antivirals are prescribed. If her ear becomes irritated with a rash or intense pain it’s more than likely a shingles virus, if she’s vaccinated against chickenpox then it wouldn’t be… I think. Again, I’m not a doctor. My facial nerve was attacked by Shingles over 1.5 years ago so I’m just speaking from experience and hope it helps. 🙏🏼

[RaisyDaisy]

Hopefully your daughter will recover quickly on her own (while you follow Mrs_Ballrooms good advice). Most people do. Still, if you can, I would recommend ordering the book Fix My Face, put out by the Foundation for Facial Recovery in the USA. It explains the condition, and which treatments are helpful and harmful. It will be essential if she doesn’t improve quickly. You are doing a great job as her mother.

[Mrs_Ballroom in reply to RaisyDaisy]

I go to Jodi Barth 2x per month. Miracle worker! Good recommendation. I wish I would have had my hand on that book at the start. I was misdiagnosed by 5 docs before I found Jodi… so sad there seems to be little knowledge on the subject overall causing many to suffer needlessly.

[RaisyDaisy in reply to Mrs_Ballroom]

Oh absolutely. I started telemedicine with her after my synkinesis developed. And I fly to see her when I can. Too few good specialists out there.

[Amee7x]

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter and how much she's struggling with this. In most cases, improvement does happen! Mine is almost completely gone now and it's only been 6 weeks since my Bells Palsy attack happened and the entire left side of my face drooped. I completely understand how awful she felt, I'm a full grown adult and I was still devastated about the outcome too. But there's always hope for her! Make sure she takes her eye shut if it doesn't close properly at night, you do not want it to dry out as it can be painful and cause serious issues down the line. Also have her gently massaging the affected side everyday from top to bottom. Make sure she knows many others have recovered from this, it will give her the hope she needs! 2 other people I know have also had Bells Palsy attacks and both recovered total control over the affected side too. I hope she gets better quickly.

[Jazzmanstar]

I'm 61 years old now I have my story up here, when I first got Bell's Palsy I was 9 years old back then in 1969 they really didn't know what caused it I went through so many treatments three times a week they did electrical shock on my head they put 10 steroid shots in my head they had a little machine that would poke in and out of my eye to see if they can get any movement on it. I had to wear an eye patch so no debris will get in my eye since it would not shut. Finally when they decided that nothing they were doing was going to help let it take its course and let's see what happens. What they had me do was say my a e i o u and when you do this exercise for your muscles in your face you do it real hard and intense. The other thing they had me do was chew gum it works your muscles in your face. And we all know it's cold out there and cold seems to really irritate it and make the pain behind your ear even worse because we all know that it's the nerves behind our ears they are freezing up solid like a rock and we got to work to soften them up again. So what we want to do is keep a scarf wrapped around the neck if your daughter goes outside and what helps she is experiencing like I did the sharp pains like a ice pick being stabbed behind your ear is have a heating pad we want to keep it warm that every day she has got to work on the a e i o uAnd chew gum and please don't let someone tell her that it's rude to be chewing gum because you don't do it softly you have got to chew and sometimes your mouth has to be open because you need to work those facial muscles. I am now 61 like I said at the top I've had it 13 times in my life it would go from one side to the other the last time I had it I believe was 10 years ago and the neurological surgeon that I went to go see he was so excited he said he has never met or known in the textbooks anyone that has had it 13 times especially when it goes from one side of the face to the other. And he asked me if I would sign papers because he was going to a conference to see if I would let him do the thesis on me and I told him of course she can. What's sad a lot of these doctors when you go to let's say your family physician something like this they don't understand what we go through I have been left with paralysis on both sides of my face that has never went away I mean I can smile that you can tell that somethinghas been wrong with me. Back then in those days kids were very cruel I was called a pirate at school I had to put eye drops in my eye three times a day so that my eye wouldn't dry out since it could not produce any tears on its own at night my mom had to take my eyes shut so nothing can get inside of it dust whatever. Till this day I'm scared to death it will happen again I sure thought it was going to happen the other day I was getting the same stabbing pains behind my ear and they can knock you to the ground sometimes but a lot of doctors claim that we don't have pain yes we do have pain it hurts like heck. A lot of us are fortunate to where they don't get paralysis from it but some of us get it so bad that we do and it can last anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months I was one of the lucky ones that lasted the longest of course. Please tell your daughter don't give up hope I got really depressed at the age of 9 and had to be put on depression medicine that young and it's just really a sad thing there's nothing basically that they can really do about it they used to want to go in and do surgery behind the ear to make room so that the nerves can expand cuz they're between two bones that's how come they freeze up and then our face gets numb that they decided that they shouldn't go with that type of treatment because it was too dangerous thank God. It's all a waiting game and that's sad but please tell her to do her exercises and till this day when it did happen over and over they did give me steroid pills because that really helps the pain and it really does help the nerves that are frozen start to fall that's what I used to say. So please don't take the word or just one doctor take your daughter to see a neurological surgeon it doesn't mean they're going to do surgery on her it's just our nerves and that's what he is a nerve doctor we want your daughter to feel like there is sunshine at the end of this unfortunate situation at this time I survived it a lot of people one in a million will get this Bells Palsy. Just please remind her don't fall into the depression because you will stay there and if she really truly does have good friends they will help her through it she'll be just fine it's just going through the process of it I'll be praying for your daughter. God bless all of you in your state I'm from Phoenix Arizona my name is Linda this was my story.

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[Mrs_Ballroom in reply to Jazzmanstar]

It’s beautiful that you took your time to write all of that our & to encourage this young person the best way you can. Based on my limited experience, a facial palsy specialist is the best. Not any other doctor. Why, for a clear & true diagnosis. BP doesn’t last more than 6 mo or so. If it does it’s more than likely something else. Most docs will assume BP & take the wait-and-see approach because they just don’t know all the possibilities. Not even Neurologist (unless they have expertise in facial palsy specifically). Just under 50% of FP patients are BP, 25% are Zoster Sine Herpete (shingles w/o the hallmark rash), 18% or so are Ramsay Hunt… I’m sure my numbers might be a bit off but not by much… the rest I can’t remember at this moment. The point: if Shingles (both RH & ZSH) are caught early enough the patient has 70% chance of full recovery. If not (like me) only 30% of getting to 90-95% recovery.

If you want more precise & accurate info, get the book Fix My Face. I found it on Amazon.

If you have gotten facial palsy 13 times, I suggest you speak to one of the co-authors of that book. They’ll tell you exactly what & why. I wouldn’t let an inexperienced physician study me when there are plenty of accomplished specialists. Just a thought to consider.

The one I go to is Jodi Barth at The Center For Facial Recovery. She diagnosed me properly on a Telehealth visit, got me to a physician who could confirm with blood tests and now I don’t have that pain behind my ear even when skiing in 25 degree weather. It’s amazing!