Teen Mom star Bristol Palin gives shocking update on condition a year after facial paralysis ‘brought on by stress’
Bristol Palin has updated fans on the facial paralysis that has impacted one side of her face for nearly a year.
Palin, the eldest daughter of former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, appeared on Teen Mom OG in 2018 following Farrah Abraham's departure, before leaving the TV show herself in 2019.
Earlier this year, the former Dancing with the Stars contestant revealed that she'd been experiencing partial facial paralysis on the left side of her face, as she described being left with 'zero movement' on the left side of her face after experiencing a 'pulling' sensation to the left days earlier.
In a video to social media, the 35-year-old said that her 'mouth was pulling this way', which 'just felt a little off', adding: "So, I went and looked in the mirror. I’m like, 'Wow, this is looking a little weird'.”
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"Within a couple hours, the entire left side of my face was numb and just paralysed," she told her followers on Instagram. "I couldn't really blink my eye [and I] definitely had no movement on the side of my face... So crazy."
The reality TV star went to the hospital to get checked out, with doctors suggesting that she could have a condition called Bell's palsy, which, according to John Hopkins Medicine, is an 'unexplained episode of facial muscle weakness or paralysis'.
After extensive tests at the hospital, medical experts thought that Palin may have Bell's palsy, a health condition that causes weakness in the muscles on one side of the face; however, Bristol hasn't received an official diagnosis yet.
“They think it’s just a case of Bell’s palsy maybe brought on by stress or lack of sleep… I think it was brought on by stress,” she said.
On January 3, the mom-of-three gave an update about her condition while answering questions on Instagram Stories.
Posting a video which had been taken on December 9, she wrote: “If anyone's wondering, today's day 323 of my face being paralyzed. Not looking great.”
Palin is still unable to move half of her face.
“Could be worse, could be better. At least I've got cute sunglasses,” she added at the end of the video.
Palin said she eventually plans to get Botox to treat the eye on the affected side of her face, as she said it 'just gets so small when I smile or when I'm expressive at all'.
According to the UNC School of Medicine, Botox can sometimes be used to treat facial paralysis by relaxing tight muscles.
In February last year, Palin previously said that she'd 'done everything imaginable to resolve this', adding that she wasn't 'sure what else I should do'.
"But I’ve spent the last 35 days doing something every single day to try and fix this, and nothing has helped so far. So, I’m not sure what the future holds," she said.
Gregory Robinson