I was 36 weeks pregnant in August 2018 when I was sat in the doctor’s surgery and my face began to drop on the left-hand side. I was in the doctor’s surgery because I had suffered a trauma to my body when I was 32 weeks pregnant; looking after some horses.
Whilst in the doctor’s surgery having my wounds redressed, I felt like I had just had an anaesthetic for a wisdom tooth, but didn’t think anything of it and went home. As the day went on my face became even more numb and I called the doctors who asked me to go to A&E to check I was not having a stroke.
After many tests in triage and seeing some specialist doctors, they concluded I had facial palsy. They gave me some steroids and did an ear swab to check for Ramsay Hunt which came back negative. The diagnosis was Bell’s Palsy.
I was in the acute stage of paralysis for six months. During this time, I had my baby full term and looked to holistic ways of supporting my recovery, especially around the trauma leading up to my facial paralysis. I began having cranial sacral therapy which supported my well-being and psyche. I had treatments for five months alongside the support of the facial palsy team at the hospital.
At around six months, my face began to move again, but with it came the dreaded synkinesis. This affected my eye and mouth. To try and combat the impact of the synkinesis I remembered the film ‘Kill Bill’ and Uma Therman’s character needing to learn to walk again, starting by ‘wiggling her big toe’. This was the same sort of rehab I felt I needed to do to combat the synkinesis and I did this by wearing a peel-off face pack. The sensation of it on my face helped me work out how a movement of the lip could switch on and off the eye muscle. This rehabilitation was all about delinking.
I also was supported by the facial palsy team with ongoing physio and some Botox to buy me time to work through the delinking.
Alongside this work, I also felt I needed to work through the trauma that I felt had caused my body to respond the way it did. So I started having EMDR therapy. This is a trauma-based therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to process trauma.
By having this treatment for the injury I endured and also processing the onset of the Bell’s palsy, my brain began to send signals to the paralysed side of my face and through more rehabilitation, more movement came back.
I am nearly five years into my recovery and have 80% of my movements back. I am a great believer that working through the trauma of my accident has helped aid my recovery.
Disclaimer: Please note that views expressed are person’s own and should not be considered a recommendation of particular medical treatments, therapies or surgeries. We would always advise you seek advice from a health professional with experience in facial palsy who can assess your individual needs.