Bell's Palsy Update

Earlier this year (January), my face was going nuts with twitches, spasms, etc. The neurologist I had been seeing ordered a MRI and more blood work. When those came back fine, she pretty much gave up and sent me to an ENT. The ENT confirmed that I have Bell's and sent me to Dr. Choi at the Eye and Facial Clinic. Dr. Choi has a ridiculously long title..... When I saw him in March, he was the FIRST doctor who told me that he could see all of the involuntary things my face was doing. He also explained some of the facial movements I was doing that were making the bad connections between nerves and muscles worse. The biggest peice of his treatment was a series of Botox injections in my forehead.

This treatment worked! With the help of the Botox, I have learned to control some of the facial movements so that I don't do them unconsciously anymore... at least not as much. That change has caused all of the involuntary ticks and twitches to stop... at least to the point where they are no longer visible on the surface. For SIX whole months, it seemed like the Bell's had quieted down and we had reached a status quo to live with.

In mid September, I had my first "Bell's headache" in a long time (where the headache is contained to the left side and my face is very sore/tired at the same time). I also started to experience more muscle tiredness and fatigue on the left side and a few random eyebrow twitches on the right side. All things that made me nervous! So, I finally gave in and called Dr. Choi.

I had my appointment with him last night and the news was good and not so good.

The good news:

Involuntary ticks and twitches on the left side are NOT visible! The right side eyebrow twitch is a random thing that happens to everyone and not something to worry about.

The not so good news:

The time period for nerve healing is pretty much 12 months, so what I have in terms of recovery is probably all I'm going to get. The muscle tiredness and fatigue I feel sometimes are just the way things are now. The headache issue is more of a tension issue that the Bell's just makes the left side more susceptible to.

The plan:

As of now..... Do Nothing. I do have another appointment with Dr. Choi on December 1. If things stay the way they are, I will probably cancel the appointment. If things decline, I will keep the appointment and we may redo the forehead Botox treatment. He said at this point that the Botox would not hurt anything, but that he wasn't sure it would help me at all. The bad nerve muscle connections are still there (my mouth moves if I raise my eyebrows and my eye moves if I pucker my lips), but these are now conscious movements, so the chances of the nerve firing random signals are slimmer.

Thanks to everyone for all of the prayers and positive thoughts during the ordeal that has been Bell's Palsy.... They have been very appreciated and helpful!