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1 week with bell's palsy

Posted , 6 users are following.

sandra1782
sandra1782

Hi, I was diagnosed with Berks palsy 1 week ago, 5 weeks after having a baby! I was on a steroid dose pack and antiviral meds for a week. I've started having excruciating pain behind the ear on the affected side. It's so bad specially at night. Has anyone else expedience pain?

1 like, 57 replies

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  • donna07054
    donna07054 sandra1782

    Posted

    Each od us are different in recovery, i was able to start massages about 1 month after but took it slow you will no when ur ready to try some typeodmassage or acupuncture, healing i have found takes time an we all heal differently 
    • philip87147
      philip87147 donna07054

      Posted

      Is there a reason why can't massage earlier?   When I had treatment from a Chinese therapist in China I had massage immediately - high pressure applied to pressure points on jaw and neck.   It was excruciating at the time but think it helped.   He actually specialised just in bells palsy as so many people had it - must have been 10-20 people waiting every time. 
    • sandra1782
      sandra1782 donna07054

      Posted

      I have actually done accupuncture twice, I think that helped my eye a lot
    • sandra1782
      sandra1782

      Posted

      I'm not sure phillip, I stopped personally because of how sore I became, it abated me a bit. The acupuncturist told me not to massage either, so I'm not sure. Everything I've read days to massage so I'm confused.
  • donna07054
    donna07054 sandra1782

    Posted

    I never tried acupuncture the massage worked for me, it hurt at first but its finenow however i still have someof it like i said not visible to others but i can feel the difference, i guesswhatever works for you iswhat will help u, my doctor also suggested acupuncture but i never tried it , massages worked, inoit was the strangest thing that ever happened to me , there was no warningand no reason asto why it happened, i pray it never happens again, because it can return. So i try keep my stress low, 
    • sandra1782
      sandra1782 donna07054

      Posted

      They say mine was after pregnancy, that it's

      pretty common even while pregnant! I think I'm going to start back on massages. Hopefully I'll start gaining some movement soon!

    • erin37823
      erin37823 sandra1782

      Posted

      Sandra, I had my boyfriend give me some deep facial massages in the first week... By the second week when my Ear started really hurting, I didn't let him massage anymore, and at that point, I honestly felt like I had been in a fight. My face was so sore it felt like I had been punched. A lot. And the soreness is still very mildly there if I have to do a lot of talking. Or like yesterday morning when I was at the dentist and had to hold my mouth open so long.

      I wouldn't do the massages if it hurts TOO much. Some pain is to be expected. I am the kind of person that doesn't hate when I have a bruise that gets poked, so getting a massage on a really sore, bruised feeling face, wasn't terrible for me, but don't do it if you're in a ton of pain.

      A lot of what I'm reading is that people get Bell's Palsy frequently near the end or just after pregnancy, and when their blood pressure is really bad. Turns out I had really high blood pressure and I think that's what did it for me. I've learned I have to take care of myself and stress less. Hopefully you can take away something good from the experience too. I would have rather had a month of temporary pain and discomfort and watery, itchy, light-sensitive eye than have something much more serious happen to me.

      Hopefully you're one of the lucky ones like I was and you get over this quickly. I have my fingers crossed for you!

    • sandra1782
      sandra1782 erin37823

      Posted

      Thank you, I do too! Glad to read about the massages and soreness being totally normal, I backed off because the soreness scared me, I though I was doing more harm than good. I now have that excruciating pain behind my ear and is worst at night, definitely heat helps. Did you just massage your whole fave in general or did you do specific target areas?
    • erin37823
      erin37823 sandra1782

      Posted

      It was the whole face. I had him spend a lot of time in the cheekbone/jaw area, and that is where it felt like I needed it the most. I let him massage me until I got to the point where lightly touching my face was painful. He did maybe a five minute massage every night. It wasn't a ton, but I feel like it really helped.

      I did put a hot towel over my ear before bed, and didn't sleep on that side of my face. Mostly because laying on it was super painful. It's actually still a bit tender when I try to lay on anything harder than a pillow on that side. I don't know if that will ever go away. More annoying than painful, though.

      Get lots of rest (I took a few days off of work to de-stress and rest). Honestly, finding this forum was so helpful for me to know I wasn't the only one, that it's a TON more common than I had any idea, and that there are so many people out there who had it and don't anymore. Knowing there is an end in sight will hopefully keep you sane. I did my best not to worry, but I didn't know anyone super close to me who has dealt with this before, so it was really scary for me.

      But yeah, massaging helped me a lot, but don't do it if it's too painful. There's a big difference between sore and pain, so listen to your body!

    • sandra1782
      sandra1782 erin37823

      Posted

      Thank you, I did start using heat compresses, and massaging a tad, I can almost close my eye completely yay!!!!
    • donna07054
      donna07054 sharon24495

      Posted

      Sorry type faster then my brain can read should be , i think was trying to say on it, not sure on prior conversation, sorry  
  • donna07054
    donna07054 sandra1782

    Posted

    Hi sandra how are you feeling? 
    • sandra1782
      sandra1782 donna07054

      Posted

      Hi donna, the pain behind my ear is pretty much gone! I can just about close my eye, my face feels less tight. Other than that not much has changed with my smile or brow. I'm two weeks exactly today so I'm hoping some more improvement starts happening soon! I have gone to acupuncture 4 times now and noticed change with my eye.
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