General Chat

A friend of mine went to the doctor this morning as the right side of her face has been feeling a bit numb (as though she had been to dentist and had an injection), her doctor has told her that she has Bells Palsy. Has anyone else had any expirience of this? Sue:-)

Sue, my Dad had that when I was a little girl and our GP told him it had been caused by over work and stress. In his case it took six months to get better, times vary for everyone, depending on severity. If he is ill or run down, he still has a little downward turn on the left side of his mouth,which is not unsightly and probably only noticeably to us who know him so well, but no other side effects for him really. Best thing is for your friend not to worry about it and rest. m.

hi sue my mum had a couple of years ago she thought shed had a stroke cos her face was all numb and distorted it took a while to clear up but touch wood it has never recurred!! give your friend a big hug from me and i hope he soon gets better susie

Hi M, Hi Susie, Many thanks for your replies Luckily she is a very bubbely, outgoing person and after speaking to her this morning I am sure that she will not let it get her down. She does not have it too bad thank goodness, just numbness and slight dribble from her mouth and eye. What I find hard to understand is that her doctor just told her what she had, said it will go in 2-3 months and that is it, no follow up, no explination of the condition or anything!! Sue:-)

I would just like to say that my neice has Bell's Palsy and she has had it for over a year now, with only a little improvement during that time. I hope your friend recovers soon.Let me know if you hear of anything that can be done to help so that I can pass it on to my neice please. Good luck to your friend and best wishes from Sylvia in Australia

My friend first had the numbness within 3-5 hours of having a huge dose of cortisone injected into her shoulder by the hospital and so she assumed it was a side effect of that. She asked her doctor about it and was told that it was pure coincidence and that the injection was what stopped her face from dropping compleatly. I am still trying to read up on it but it does seem a very big coincidence!! Sue:-)

Sylvia, I found this site that gives some info and has a board where people share their expiriences. It shows what treatments they have tried and what has/hasn't worked for them. http://www.bellspalsy.org.uk/main.htm Sue:-)

My mum suffers from it when she is having a relapse of her MS. It always goes away though. Lov to your friend...xx

Hi All, I have passed all of your messages on to my friend Pam. I had already told her about all the wonderful people on GC but even so she was deeply touched that people who never even knew her wished her well. Many Thanks to you all Sue:-)

A friend of mine has this from time to time - similar to Rach's mum getting it when her MS flares up, my friend's comes back when she's run down or ill etc. Please give your friend my best wishes for a speedy recovery as well.

Mandy, I have passed your message on, she is still staggered at the response from people on here and has asked me to pass on her thanks. She is still her usual self and is now going by the name of Droopy!!! Sue:-)

Hi Sue My husband had this about 30 years ago he could not close his eye on the side of his face that was affected. He was admitted to the Radcliffe hospital on Christmas Day and remained there until New Years eve. He still had to go back once a day for injections for a further week. Touch wood he has not had it since. Best wishes to your friend for a speedy recovery. Pat

I had bells palsy a few years ago, i also thought i'd had a stroke. It was awful i couldnt eat properly, i slept with my eye open as it wouldnt close. I was told that it was more than likely caused by a draft. I was also told i could have it for a very long time! Luckily for me it was only 3 months, and that is only beacuse i made sure i exercised my face every day. Massage the face at least once an hour and chew lots and lots of chewing gum. If this doesnt help it certainly will not do any harm It helped me Oh yeah talking a lot helps to. hope your freind is better soon Kath xx