Posted: 1/2/2008 8:47:27 PM EDT
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Came down with it on Christmas night on right side of my face.Doc has me on anti biotics and steroids. So.. Any thing I can do to speed revovery? I hate talking, I hate chewing, My eye hella hurts.  What causes it? Peace ST~ 
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I don't think anyone knows what causes it and I don't think you can hasten its departure. It lasts anywhere from a few weeks to several months--or longer. Odd thing it is. I'm sorry to hear it--it's a PITA.  *A close friend's wife had it years ago, BTW. Hers lasted two months--but with NO lasting effects. Good luck. 
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Inflammation of a nerve trunk in your face. Nerve blocks impulses, paralysis results. Do exactly what the docs say. That's all you can do. ETA: What is the cause of the nerve inflammation? As TBK says, no one has proven what it is, and their are lots of candidates. Myself, I think it is an otherwise benign infection, but I am not a doctor. Most people that I know that had it had a low-grade "flu-like symptoms" virus about a week before the paralysis began. |
| A friend of mine had a bout of it a few years ago. It was like he had a stroke, the left side of his face was dead for weeks. It drove him insane when eating because his right eye would start running with tears when he chewed. It took him several months before he was back to normal though the worst was over in about 3 weeks. |
| Wife had it for about five days, six years ago. At the time, the Doctor thought she got it because my wife went to a tanning salon and immediately left the store, into the freezing cold outside. She has been a bit paranoid about ever since. Doctor told her to take a certain vitamin and cover her face in really cold weather. I don't remember the vitamin.....B12? |
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I am a neurology resident in my 3rd year of training. The most widely accepted thinking on the etiology is that it is caused by a virus. The 7th cranial nerve (the facial nerve) passes through a tight spot near the external auditory canal (ear canal). If the nerve is inflammed, it swells and has no place to expand in the bony tunnel causing damage. It gives off some branches to the stapedius muscle dampens the bones of your ear. (remember the stirrup, anvil and hammer?) This accounts for why you may be hearing things louder on the affected side. The facial nerve supplies the muscles of the face in one one side as well as the forward most 2/3 of the tongue. You probably lost some taste there, but you haven't noticed. Until recently the most common treatment was prednisone 10mg daily for 10 days along with acyclovir which is an antiviral. Neither have been shown to work miracles, and the most recent studies have suggested that we shouldn't give acyclovir. Either way, you should have a 90% or better recovery, but it will take months. hth, tony |
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Steel Talon, About 10 years ago, I was bitten in the left ear canal by a wasp that flew into my ear. Several hours later, the entire left side of my face was paralyized. I let it go for a week, people at work thought it was funny and my Mother thought I had suffered a stroke. She insisted that I see a doctor and get checked out. At the doctor's office, I was first looked at by a young Indian/Pakistani doctor. I told him of the insect bite, made a half smile and moved the muscles in my face, but only partially. He had this stunned look on his face as he was listening to my description and quickly brought in an older doctor. I told him of my insect bite. I said I figured that a nerve had been pinched or something since alot of nerves run along the sides of the skull and down, around, through and in the ear canal area. I waited for things to return to normal. but concerned family and friends wanted a doctor to check it out. He said that I was a very smart man and that is exactly what had happened. He said a nerve reacts quickly to getting pinched, but my take several weeks to uncompress and return to normal. He offered a prescription, but said in my case it wouldn't do much for me. He said I should be fine in another two weeks, which I was. I have had no problems since then related to the Bells Palsey or nerve. Regards, Gregor |
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My dad had it about 15 years ago. He has never regained full movement of his facial muscles. He looks like someone who has very mild stroke symptoms still, when he smiles his face is uneven. He doesn't have to tape his eyelid closed to sleep anymore though, that only lasted a few weeks. I hope there is no hereditary component.
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I had it last August, it took about 5 weeks to clear up. Steroids and antibiotics are all you can do, I did a second longer course of steroids after the first week showed no improvement. You need to protect your eye while you sleep, otherwise you could injure it.  My understanding is this: The nerves that control facial muscles go through a tight spot, a hole in your skull thats less than 1mm, the nerve is already squeezed tight, any swelling at all puts pressure on the nerve. This effectively acts like an off switch. Sometimes permanent nerve damage can result. The swelling is most often caused by a viral or possibly a bacterial infection, hence the antibiotics, the steroids are to reduce the swelling. Be sure to do a fade with the steroids, reducing the amount over several days, otherwise you can get pretty sick. I hope you get well soon. Scott. |
) which are "apparently benign".
The method of diagnosis in these cases is that not all of the sufferers of "X Syndrome" have "Y Germ" in them, and not all with "Y" get "X". Hence, "Y" does not cause "X". Even if all of "Y" sufferers have "X", but many with "X" have no symptoms of "Y" it is a good reason to believe that "Y" does not cause "X". At least, not all by itself. One exception to this rule is Clostridium Perfringens, found in literally every soil except the Sahara desert. It is the micro-organism behind Gas Gangrene and several livestock illnesses. Normally it is benign, but in the wrong place, or if the body loses its ability to fight it, it becomes fatal. So yes; it is quite possible that some micro-organisms that are commonly found also are at the root of many idiopathic illnesses. Possibly they become dangerous in special circumstances, or in conjunction with a secondary infection by another micro-organism. But it is very hard to tell why someone is sick, sometimes. |
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I have known several people who have came down with it. One fellow, his lasted about six months. He still has some lingering effects in which his eye waters when he eats. Not sure But I understand it is a variant of the Herpes virus. God only knows how many variants ther are of Herpes other than the two famous ones. |
My dad got it a few years ago. He recovered 99%, but he can't whistle anymore (which really pisses him off). Get well soon. |
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Hi All, Thanks for the thoughts and well wishes. It does suck. At night I wear a patch and use an eye gel This actually makes my eye feel much better in the morning. My little ones like it "Dads a pirate" LOL Hard to not be able to give my kids and Lady Steel a good smootch I get this vision /soundof a CARP fish when I give them a kiss I Eating is tedious, I'm constantly having to move food from between my cheek and gum with my finger. Brushing teeth is amusing, Can't drink a snifter of brandy w/o dribbling, cant puff a cigar, and whistleing is impossible Prior to this I had been (still am) battling a bad cough since Thanksgiving. Week before my eye was watering terribly thought it was allergies? Monday evening a week before Christmas evening. I was rolling on the matt (Atemi Waza) and took a pretty good shot to the right side of my face just above the mandible hinge Jaw was clicking for a few days. And the week prior to Christmas I was putting up the exterior lights in the cold night/warm house transitions. So I think I've pretty much covered all the bases of possible causes prior to its full on arrival Christmas evening  As for the taste sensation yep , Christmas dinner had a few odd tatses. Peace Steel Talon
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My grandfather had it ,my mom had it , and I got it. Got mine at the tail end of paramedic school during exams and I became the guy who "stroked out because of the finals where to hard." but it went away within a week or so. My left side will still kinda cramp up once in a while..
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