[Mudder]

I'm on day 7 of Bell's Palsy. Not fun. Anyone have any hints to ease the journey?

[quirky3]

Mudder, good luck with this. My brother went through this, and eventually made a full recovery. Here are some tips:

Physical therapy
Paralyzed muscles can shrink and shorten, causing permanent contractures. A physical therapist can teach you how to massage and exercise your facial muscles to help prevent this from occurring.

Protect the eye you can't close. Using lubricating eyedrops during the day and an eye ointment at night will help keep your eye moist.

Wear glasses or goggles during the day and an eye patch at night can protect your eye from getting poked or scratched.

Take over-the-counter pain relievers. Aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) may help ease your pain.

Apply moist heat. Putting a washcloth soaked in warm water on your face several times a day may help relieve pain.

[Mudder]

Thanks, Quirky.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Mudder

Thanks, Quirky.

I have a good friend who had it and it was somehow connected with having wind blow on her face in an open car. She recovered completely and I hope and will pray that you do too.

Hugs,
Gracie

[msinglinks]

Hello Mudder,
I had Bell's 2 summers ago and I think I can offer some help. First, Quirky3's suggestions are a great start. Something not told to me regarding the eyedrops was to be sure to use natural eyedrops as other may not be as soothing. I also found that manually blinking my eye was well worth the effort until my eye began to blink on its own. I know I was prescribed steroids at first which helped immensely with the pain. I also got one of those gel microwaveable heating pads which was really helpful to provide portable moist heat.

From what I personally experienced and what I read, physical therapy is not really necessary as the facial muscles do not atrophy the way other muscles in the body do. I was fortunate to have pretty much a full recovery in about 3 months time. Although I see a very slight difference in my eyes, no one else seems to notice and maybe it was there prior to the palsy.

I hope you have a speedy recovery. I know it was helpful to me to be able to talk to others who had bell's, feel free to call if you'd like to talk(610-876-3271).

[MikeV]

I had it a few years ago. My doctor prescribed some eye gel and I wore an eye patch to keep any debris out because you can't blink. I was lucky I had absolutely no pain for the entire month I had it. The drooling was most embarrassing but my family had fun kidding me. Just ride it out and follow the other recommendations.

[jebartle]

If you get to the Chiropractor ASAP (within 48 hours) it will correct problem...
It is an inflammation of the facial nerve associated with nerve compression.

[BarryRX]

The 7th cranial nerve travels through a narrow canal that lies beneath the ear. When an unknown condition causes the nerve to swell, it becomes compressed in the narrow canal. This is different than say a bulging disc compressing a nerve in your back. If some folks have gotten relief from going to a chiropractor it is probably because Bells Palsy is self limiting and usually resolves itself, not because of any manipulation that a chiropractor can do in this case. I'm not criticizing chiropractors, I just think that in this case they can't help.

[gatherer47]

My case was so bad in 1977 I had to have surgery involving the 7th cranial nerve.I understand that now massive doses of steroids work effectively.I went through hell for a week with vertigo,pain,nausea,drooling,drooping mouth,eye trouble etc.If it wasn't for Dr Mark May at Pittsburgh Eye and Ear hospital,don't know what might have happened.

[Mudder]

Had an MRI, both 7th an d8th nerves are inflamed. This is developing into something more than just Bell's Palsy. Thanks Barryx, I saw your post about 7th nerve before I got the results of MRI. Went right to web to study up on it all.
It's gone from simple to complicated very quickly. Seeing Neurologist again tomorrow, am ready to do battle with all of this!

[Topspinmo]

Bell Palsy and Acoustic Neuroma (AN) symptoms are similar 1 in 200,000 could be AN. AN is a tumor usually non-cancerous and if I remember correctly it grows off the 8th cranial nerve?.

Usually with AN you will have hearing loss, ringing in ear and pain on that side , facial tingling, balance problems, headaches, concentrations problems. As the tumor grows tongue and gum numbness, migraine's and severe balance problems.

Usually even small AN .5MMs or so can be seen with MRI. The only way you can detect AN early is by hearing test From ENT Specialist , you will loose the sounds of vowels/syllables and tone loss.

I just had my 10th year anniversary 4.8 CM tumor removed. Took me 5 years to recover fully. I was diagnosed with bell palsy twenty years before I found out I had AN, by then it was too late too save the inner ear. I would ask the Neurologist about AN's Get that cleared up from the get go if it was me knowing what I know now?

Vestibular schwannoma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[graciegirl]

My father recovered successfully from Acoustic neuroma.

Hope everything is going O.K., Mudder.

Thinking about ya and hoping to hear good news.

Your friend,
Gracie

[LynnDeb]

Mudder, wishing you a speedy recovery...hugs, Lynn

[CFrance]

Good wishes for a complete, quick recovery, Mudder.

[Mudder]

Thanks everyone. An MRI showed no tumors or masses, just badly swollen 7th and 8th nerves. Progress is slow, but I'm hopeful. ENT and Neurologist are on top of the situation. The balance issue makes walking an interesting adventure, have to hang on to someone for the time being.