Bell's Palsy

My Brother was diagnosed with it about 8 yrs ago or so when he was in his late 30's and it last about a week and it paralyzes his lip and eye on one side completely. It does come back from time to time. He's had it come back about 5 times ever since.

Good luck and hope this helps.
M.

Hi S.~ My husband had this and I am happy to tell you that once he recovered, it never came back. It took about 3 weeks for his face to entirely go back to normal. It's been about 10 years now and he has never relapsed. One of the teachers at our school had it while pregnant and she too made a full recovery without incidence.
Hang in there..

N.

Hi Stephanie! My sister experienced Bell's Palsy but was not pregnant. She woke up one morning while in college and didn't know what it was. It took her about 3-4 days to recover. She's fine now and it has not come back. My dad experienced it as wella few years ago but is much older. He is doing well but has never completely recovered from the droopy lip.

Hi S.,

I had this at 6 weeks postpartum almost 6 years ago. I never fully recovered (most people do recover fully so don't be too concerned). I was told I couldn't take the steroid because I was breastfeeding. I either had to quit nursing for two weeks, or not take the steroid. My son had a terrible time getting a good latch up until about a week before me getting Bells Palsy. I knew if I gave him a bottle for even two weeks, I'd not be able to nurse him anymore. So I opted for acupuncture and electrostimulation on my face. Maybe we did to much too quickly, I don't know - but my recovery was long, slow and painful. I do hope by now, you are already seeing improvements, and all is well with you and your pregnancy!

Women who are pregnant and in the postpartum period are 5% more likely to get Bells Palsy then the 'average' person. I'm thinking it has to do with the swelling :-) Good luck!

T.

I didn't have it while pregnant but did have it. It was a long time ago. I was on steroids for the nerve inflammation and some antibiotics. It took mine about 6-8 weeks to resolve all the way and I have never had a relapse. But I didn't like it when I had it. I actually went to physical therapy to do exercises with my facial and neck muscles to prevent any deterioration while they were paralyzed. They also gave me electrical stimulation to have the muscles act like I was moving them but it was the e-stim exercising them. Do a lot of facial exercises if you can like pursing your lips, wide grins and different mouth shapes.
HTH,
good luck,
L.