Okay, the only reason I'm doing another update is because I had a routine dental appointment yesterday. Apparently my face is more sore than I thought. As they touched my lips and cleaned and poke around in there, I felt the soreness more than I have in weeks. It wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable.
I wonder if the soreness will every go away :(
I also wonder if all the sensitivity have anything to do with my pregnancy.
Well, I'll find out sooner or later....
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 89
So another month later... and the changes are really, really subtle. It's hard to see my old (normal) face when my overall face is different (and ever changing) from the extra weight I've gained during this pregnancy.
I'm able to rinse vigorously now without squirting so I do have more muscle control on my lips. My "kissy lips" still looks bad (to me) but it's not like I walk around looking like that haha
The one thing I still notice is pain in my face. This only happens when I apply pressure to it such as applying lotion or touching it firmly.
This is probably my last update since I pretty much feel normal.
I'm able to rinse vigorously now without squirting so I do have more muscle control on my lips. My "kissy lips" still looks bad (to me) but it's not like I walk around looking like that haha
The one thing I still notice is pain in my face. This only happens when I apply pressure to it such as applying lotion or touching it firmly.
This is probably my last update since I pretty much feel normal.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 64
Day 64... I smile at myself and I don't feel normal :(
A lot of people say that I look great and that they can't tell that i've ever had Bell's Palsy but I just don't see myself when I smile in the mirror.
Is it because i'm chubbier from the pregnancy? Or is because my smile doesn't look the same? Maybe it's a bit of both!
I don't notice it anymore either except when my baby puts his head on my face and I can still feel a little soreness. If I don't touch it, I don't notice it.
The other day I was eating at In & Out and I went to rinse my mouth. I've forgotten in that moment that I have been cautiously rinsing my mouth to avoid squirting out any water... so I started to rinse vigorously and let's just say, water squirted everywhere!
The physical changes haven't changed much in my eyes or it's very subtle.
Here's a photo of me before I had the Bell's Palsy with my son being silly...
A lot of people say that I look great and that they can't tell that i've ever had Bell's Palsy but I just don't see myself when I smile in the mirror.
Is it because i'm chubbier from the pregnancy? Or is because my smile doesn't look the same? Maybe it's a bit of both!
I don't notice it anymore either except when my baby puts his head on my face and I can still feel a little soreness. If I don't touch it, I don't notice it.
The other day I was eating at In & Out and I went to rinse my mouth. I've forgotten in that moment that I have been cautiously rinsing my mouth to avoid squirting out any water... so I started to rinse vigorously and let's just say, water squirted everywhere!
The physical changes haven't changed much in my eyes or it's very subtle.
Here's a photo of me before I had the Bell's Palsy with my son being silly...
Here are some photos from today... My smile is still a little off. :(
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 42
I got super excited when I started to see improvement in the muscles in my face. Now... 2 weeks later and the changes are subtle. I just want my smile back :(
The good news is I feel "normal" again (kind of). I guess that's the most important thing.
My eyes are no longer bothering me.
I can control the water while gargling and not spit all over the place.
I am eating normally again.
The only thing is my physical appearance. My smile isn't completely normal. I don't look at myself or see myself as others do but when I do see myself in the mirror, I still don't see me (before Bell's Palsy).
The good news is I feel "normal" again (kind of). I guess that's the most important thing.
My eyes are no longer bothering me.
I can control the water while gargling and not spit all over the place.
I am eating normally again.
The only thing is my physical appearance. My smile isn't completely normal. I don't look at myself or see myself as others do but when I do see myself in the mirror, I still don't see me (before Bell's Palsy).
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 28
The muscles have been moving more each day.
I can actually make a smile now (a little one).
Strangely I'm starting to feel the same numbness and pain I did when I first started having symptoms. It's almost like I'm going backwards in my symptoms. So, hopefully that means that it will be completely healed... soon.
My eyes are getting better too. It almost shuts completely when I close my eyes. I noticed my eyes are less dry and I use less of my artificial tears drops. I continue to use the ointment at night while sleeping. I've been able to close enough that I don't use it in the shower and I have no problems with shampoo in my eyes! whew! That was painful.
My lips still doesn't function 100%. It feels like it's the last muscles to come back. Everything else seems to come back sooner and healing faster. I still need to pinch the corners of my lips when I gargle after brushing my teeth. I do notice if I carefully gargle (very gently) I can keep the water in my mouth but of course, the point of gargling is to vigorously gargle. Then the water starts squirting out as usual.
My husband always got a kick out of my creepy eye that didn't close in the beginning!
I can actually make a smile now (a little one).
Strangely I'm starting to feel the same numbness and pain I did when I first started having symptoms. It's almost like I'm going backwards in my symptoms. So, hopefully that means that it will be completely healed... soon.
My eyes are getting better too. It almost shuts completely when I close my eyes. I noticed my eyes are less dry and I use less of my artificial tears drops. I continue to use the ointment at night while sleeping. I've been able to close enough that I don't use it in the shower and I have no problems with shampoo in my eyes! whew! That was painful.
My lips still doesn't function 100%. It feels like it's the last muscles to come back. Everything else seems to come back sooner and healing faster. I still need to pinch the corners of my lips when I gargle after brushing my teeth. I do notice if I carefully gargle (very gently) I can keep the water in my mouth but of course, the point of gargling is to vigorously gargle. Then the water starts squirting out as usual.
My husband always got a kick out of my creepy eye that didn't close in the beginning!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 22
There's exciting changes! Over the weekend (It's Thursday today), I started to see slight improvement in my facial movements! I do my exercises in front of a mirror including trying to blink my right eye (good eye) and then the left. When I tried to move the left side, it often just stares back at me with no movement.
5 days ago... While doing the exercises, my left eye moved a little when I tried to blink it. It was really more of a twitch but I kept doing it and it would move. My eyebrows and lips still didn't move and my "nose wiggle" had no affect on my left side on Saturday.
Over the next couple of days, the muscles started to move more while doing my exercises...
Today, I can raise my left eyebrow to where my husband notices the movement (he didn't on the first day it started moving).
I can blink my left eye halfway. That's pretty good improvement in 5 days.
There's movement when I wiggle my nose.
The corner of my lips tries to go up while smiling. Even that, is an improvement!
My face is no longer sore, a big plus!
Eating has also improved although I still can't eat things I love like a giant burger! I still chew carefully and on the working side of my mouth. Drinking is also still a little challenging...
Even though i'm using my eye drops less and my eyes close half way, my eyes are still very dry and it's hard to see when driving. I try not to drive unless I absolutely have to.
I still apply ointment to my eyes at night. I no longer use the Palsy Patch because it just doesn't hold my eyelids down well. I make an effort to tape my eye closed but it's never a success. My husband helps me while i'm already laying down. This seems to help my eyes stay shut. I think when I wake in the middle of the night to tend to my 15 month baby, my left eye would open because it does have more muscle control now. I get so irritated that I end up ripping it off. Okay, I don't actually rip it off. I carefully remove it without taking any layers of skin, eyebrow or eye lashes off!
I don't know if this is the beginning of a speedy recovery or just the beginning of a slow recovery. After reading all the stories online, I really thought this would last at least 6 months if not longer... So i'm grateful that i see some improvements.
5 days ago... While doing the exercises, my left eye moved a little when I tried to blink it. It was really more of a twitch but I kept doing it and it would move. My eyebrows and lips still didn't move and my "nose wiggle" had no affect on my left side on Saturday.
Over the next couple of days, the muscles started to move more while doing my exercises...
Today, I can raise my left eyebrow to where my husband notices the movement (he didn't on the first day it started moving).
I can blink my left eye halfway. That's pretty good improvement in 5 days.
There's movement when I wiggle my nose.
The corner of my lips tries to go up while smiling. Even that, is an improvement!
My face is no longer sore, a big plus!
Eating has also improved although I still can't eat things I love like a giant burger! I still chew carefully and on the working side of my mouth. Drinking is also still a little challenging...
Even though i'm using my eye drops less and my eyes close half way, my eyes are still very dry and it's hard to see when driving. I try not to drive unless I absolutely have to.
I still apply ointment to my eyes at night. I no longer use the Palsy Patch because it just doesn't hold my eyelids down well. I make an effort to tape my eye closed but it's never a success. My husband helps me while i'm already laying down. This seems to help my eyes stay shut. I think when I wake in the middle of the night to tend to my 15 month baby, my left eye would open because it does have more muscle control now. I get so irritated that I end up ripping it off. Okay, I don't actually rip it off. I carefully remove it without taking any layers of skin, eyebrow or eye lashes off!
I don't know if this is the beginning of a speedy recovery or just the beginning of a slow recovery. After reading all the stories online, I really thought this would last at least 6 months if not longer... So i'm grateful that i see some improvements.
I probably shouldn't have worn my glasses in the pics on left side. As you can see though, my eye brows go up in the below pic when I widen my eyes! It's hard to tell in the smile photo but there's a crease near my nose and my lips do actually go slightly up....
Pucker up!
Excited about a smirk
From my 20 week maternity photo
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Bell's Palsy Update - Day 14
It's been about 2 weeks and I keep hoping to see signs of my facial muscles coming back but no, nothing has really improved except the pain on my face.
I've learned to adjust to eating and drinking by now. I have to eat small bite sizes and drink slowly which is probably what I should do anyway since I tend to inhale my foods. It seems that when I'm eating I feel the restrictions of my facial muscles the most. Maybe it's because we use a lot of facial muscles while eating.
I have been wearing the palsy patch at night. This product was made by a guy who had Bell's Palsy and was not happy with taping his eye shut at night. I was desperate and wanted to see if it works. When it arrived, I was disappointed because the elastic felt cheap and it was not adjustable. I think it's too big for me. The patch piece is thick and I was having trouble fitting it on my face. I've watched his instructional YouTube video but it just doesn't seem to work well for me. The second night was better. Although I'm not completely satisfied with the patch, it beats taping my eye which I absolutely hated! I'm now thinking about a DIY project for making a similar patch. One that might fit me better.
The good news is I've figured a way to take a shower without excruciating pain from water/shampoo/face wash getting into my eyes. For the past 2 weeks, even with my eyes held shut, water would get in and it would hurt. I mean burning, my eyes are on fire kind of HURT. Yes, water does this.... so imagine when it was time to shampoo my hair! The other problem I have is allergies so my eyes would get so irritated from allergies as well. Last night, after spending some time outdoors taking photos of my 3 year old son on Earth Day (the clouds were absolutely gorgeous). I used the overnight ointment before I showered because my eyes were just so irritated. I noticed while I was showering that my eyes were not burning and hurting from the water! I was so excited! For the first time in 2 weeks, I was pain free in the shower! yay! I then applied a little bit of ointment in my eye again before using a allergy relief eye drop and it didn't burn or sting! I tried using the allergy eye drops the night before without the ointment and I almost died. Naturally the drops would burn your eyes a little but with mine being so irritated from Bell's Palsy it was REALLY painful. I'm starting to think this ointment is a miracle worker LOL! about half an our later my eye was no longer red or itchy. What a relief!
I started using different nerve generating essential oils such as Helichrysum & Frankincense. I'm also using peppermint, lemongrass and lavender. I don't know if the oils are helping but my face isn't as sore as it was last week. Trying to massage it at first was soooooo painful. My face was so tender. Now, I can tolerate the massage and even use a little more pressure. I started to get headaches again but it's still not as intense as it was right before I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. The left side of my face is breaking out. I'm breaking out like crazy. Maybe the pores are constantly open and exposed to more dirt and yucky stuff!
I've learned to adjust to eating and drinking by now. I have to eat small bite sizes and drink slowly which is probably what I should do anyway since I tend to inhale my foods. It seems that when I'm eating I feel the restrictions of my facial muscles the most. Maybe it's because we use a lot of facial muscles while eating.
I have been wearing the palsy patch at night. This product was made by a guy who had Bell's Palsy and was not happy with taping his eye shut at night. I was desperate and wanted to see if it works. When it arrived, I was disappointed because the elastic felt cheap and it was not adjustable. I think it's too big for me. The patch piece is thick and I was having trouble fitting it on my face. I've watched his instructional YouTube video but it just doesn't seem to work well for me. The second night was better. Although I'm not completely satisfied with the patch, it beats taping my eye which I absolutely hated! I'm now thinking about a DIY project for making a similar patch. One that might fit me better.
The good news is I've figured a way to take a shower without excruciating pain from water/shampoo/face wash getting into my eyes. For the past 2 weeks, even with my eyes held shut, water would get in and it would hurt. I mean burning, my eyes are on fire kind of HURT. Yes, water does this.... so imagine when it was time to shampoo my hair! The other problem I have is allergies so my eyes would get so irritated from allergies as well. Last night, after spending some time outdoors taking photos of my 3 year old son on Earth Day (the clouds were absolutely gorgeous). I used the overnight ointment before I showered because my eyes were just so irritated. I noticed while I was showering that my eyes were not burning and hurting from the water! I was so excited! For the first time in 2 weeks, I was pain free in the shower! yay! I then applied a little bit of ointment in my eye again before using a allergy relief eye drop and it didn't burn or sting! I tried using the allergy eye drops the night before without the ointment and I almost died. Naturally the drops would burn your eyes a little but with mine being so irritated from Bell's Palsy it was REALLY painful. I'm starting to think this ointment is a miracle worker LOL! about half an our later my eye was no longer red or itchy. What a relief!
I started using different nerve generating essential oils such as Helichrysum & Frankincense. I'm also using peppermint, lemongrass and lavender. I don't know if the oils are helping but my face isn't as sore as it was last week. Trying to massage it at first was soooooo painful. My face was so tender. Now, I can tolerate the massage and even use a little more pressure. I started to get headaches again but it's still not as intense as it was right before I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. The left side of my face is breaking out. I'm breaking out like crazy. Maybe the pores are constantly open and exposed to more dirt and yucky stuff!
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