It's been about 4 months of Bell's Palsy and I want to put another update up here. The biggest thing I notice about my face that still hasn't cleared up is that I can't squeeze my right eye shut tight like I can my left. This bothers me a little bit, mostly when swimming without goggles on. When I laugh, I can't feel it, but the left side is a bit more squinty than the right. You can see it in this picture:
The past few weeks I have been feeling some twitchiness in the BP side, and a little tightness in the muscles. I am hoping this means more healing is taking place... I noticed when I close my mouth tight there is a lumpiness in my chin, I'm using muscles there that I never used before. I'm trying to remember to relax my chin when I close my mouth. My mouth is sometimes symmetrical and sometimes crooked. Both corners of the mouth work, but not always in unison. I think when I'm tired, the BP side doesn't cooperate as well. Here's what it looks like when crooked. (The BP side of the mouth is actually bigger here.)If I look in the mirror or concentrate on it, I have no problem making both sides look the same.
I haven't been doing facial exercises, and I think I should do them again for a few weeks and see if I can get to 100% recovery. All in all I am very happy with how things are going!
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6 comments:
:-)
Glad to know things are coming along!!
Last Thursday, my husband woke up in the morning with the right half of his face paralyzed. We had both overslept, and were in such a hurry to get to work in the morning that neither of us noticed. He kind of noticed, but thought it was just tiredness.
That evening, just after Göran got home from work, I got a worried call from our son, who had seen him earlier that evening.
Thanks to your telling of your own story over the past few months, I had an inkling what it was. We took him to the doctor the next morning, and it was indeed diagnosed as Bell's palsy.
Thanks for sharing your story. I've shared bits and pieces of it with Göran over the last few days, and in general it has been helpful to him. Of course, he's pretty frustrated; sometimes even depressed. The other day when it was very windy out, it was horrible for his right eye. Drinking is a chore. He wants it to go away tomorrow. We're having to take it day by day. Both in need of patience...
Oh, John and Göran -- I'm soooo sorry. Those first few days and weeks before you see any improvement are so hard. Göran, how are you being treated? I really recommend taking the medication. I know it is controversial but I think the antiviral and the steroid contributed to my fairly quick recovery. I also took a B complex vitamin and omega 3 fish oil capsules very religiously. Really the worst part of all of this is mental. Since you don't really *feel* sick, you want to heal quickly. And it is so obvious that you can't hide it from friends, coworkers, people on the street.
Please let me know how things go. I hope your recovery is swift.
Cheryl:
I have never told you how much courage you displayed when going through this experience. You were an inspiration to me at how much your inner beauty shown through. You are now restored almost completely to your beautiful self. You are beautiful both inside and out. You gave people inspiration who face this condition. I hope you will continue writing your blog so that you can bless the lives of people for years to come. Your loving husband. Frankie Bruno
Do you still suffer from this? Ive never heard of it before.
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