Bristol Palin Opens Up About Her Struggle with Facial Paralysis

bristol-palin-opens-up-about-her-struggle-with-facial-paralysis

Bristol Palin recently shared a deeply personal and unsettling experience about how she woke up one morning to find half of her face paralyzed. The daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, 34, took to social media to describe the symptoms of her condition and the journey she has been on trying to understand and treat it.

It all started when Bristol woke up with a sensation of numbness on one side of her face. At the time, it was no big deal—her mouth was cocked to one side, and she had an odd sensation in it. However, things went from bad to worse. By later that very afternoon, the entire side of her face went completely numb, and she had lost all muscle control of her left facial side. She was unable to blink or move her facial muscles properly, prompting a visit to the doctor.

Doctors ran several tests, an example being a CT scan, but couldn’t determine what caused the sudden paralysis. This left Bristol concerned and puzzled. Although the tests did not bring forth a conclusive result, the doctors felt that it could be Bell’s palsy-a condition causing temporary weakness or paralysis of facial muscles, usually on one side of the face.

The symptoms of Bell’s palsy often occur in correlation with viral infections, stress, or exhaustion; even Bristol did point out that her condition may have been due to stress and fatigue. Other medications besides steroids were also issued for symptom management while further investigation was taking place.

Though having followed her doctor’s advice, Bristol did not stop looking for other kinds of treatment to speed up the healing process; she tried acupuncture. She shared how acupuncture has really helped with alleviating symptoms and hastening the healing process. Over the course of the next week, she continued to keep her followers updated on her progress, even showing snippets of how much better she was getting. When the facial muscles in her face started to get movement again, she shared just how painful yet positive this recovery process has been.

On social media, Bristol explained that it has taught her to focus more on the issues concerning her general health. This illness was rather distressing to her; on the positive side, however, it did allow her a whole new appreciation of the normal action of simply being able to move her face: “The next time I look in the mirror and pick myself apart, I’m just going to be so thankful for a normal functioning face.”

Bristol has managed to win the hearts of many who face health challenges through candidness about the struggle. Her case surely reminds every individual that one should give importance to their health, how stress might cause physical detriments, and self-care during adverse conditions.

Though it is a non-permanent affliction in general, distress is a prevalent state of Bell’s palsy; most sufferers indeed see great improvements or full recovery within weeks to months. For Bristol, this has been a gradual but very positive process that gives her good hope of finally regaining control of her facial muscles.

By sharing her experience, Bristol Palin shed light on a poorly understood condition and, at the same time, showed the power of alternative treatments and the need for persistence through health challenges.