American pop music singer Justin Bieber announced on his social networks that he was suffering from an unusual illness that caused facial paralysis. “This is due to a virus attacking the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves, causing my face to be paralyzed,” Bieber explained to his followers.
“As you can see, this eye doesn’t blink. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move‘ The pop star went into further detail while showing the aftermath of what has been diagnosed as Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.
According to the American organization Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome occurs in people who have had chickenpox. “Once you’ve recovered from chickenpox, the virus stays in your body and is sometimes reactivated in later years to cause shingles … which affects the facial nerve near one of your ears. Unilateral facial paralysis and hearing loss can also occur.‘ the entity explains.
“The nerves that go through the face go through very narrow bony canals, and when they become inflamed, they swell and lose their ability to function,” adds Anna Wald, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine. quoted by The New York Times.
According to information from Medline Plus, the website of the United States National Library of Medicine, Ramsay Hunt syndrome primarily affects adults, although it rarely occurs in children.
Symptoms can include:
- Severe pain in the ear.
- Painful rash on the eardrum, external auditory canal, earlobe, tongue or roof of your mouth, on the side of the affected nerve.
- hearing loss on one side.
- feeling that things are spinning (dizziness).
- Weakness on one side of the face, difficulty closing one eye, eating (food spills sideways from the weak corner of the mouth), grimacing and fine facial movements, and drooping of the face and Paralysis on one side of the face.
This is the Instagram post where Justin Bieber shared the details of his illness with his followers:
How is Ramsay Hunt Syndrome treated?
Steroidal anti-inflammatories and some antivirals are usually prescribed. Treatment with powerful analgesics is also required in some scenarios if pain persists despite steroid use.
As recommended by Medline Plus, If you have a facial weakness, it is convenient to use an eye patch to avoid damaging the cornea (corneal abrasion) and other eye damage if the eye does not close completely. Some people may also use a special eye lubricant at night and artificial tears during the day to prevent the eye from drying out.
As for the prognosis and course of the syndrome, after starting the appropriate treatment, if the nerve does not show significant damage, the person should recover after a few weeks. Nevertheless, If the nerve damage is greater, you may not fully recover, even after several months.
The United States National Library of Medicine states that the chances of recovery are better if treatment is started three days after symptoms appear. When this happens, most people make a full recovery. On the other hand, if the treatment lasts longer, the chances of a full recovery decrease significantly.
risk of complications?
As with other diseases, Ramsay Hunt syndrome is not free from complications in the person, for example:
- Changes in the appearance of the face (disfigurement) due to loss of movement.
- changes in taste.
- Damage to the eye (corneal ulcers and infections) leading to loss of vision.
- nerves that grow back into faulty structures, causing abnormal responses to movement; For example, a smile causes the eye to close.
- Persistent pain.
- Spasms in the muscles of the face or eyelids.