Bristol Palin Seeing Improvements After Recent Facial Paralysis Diagnosis

Bristol Palin at a celebration of the 200th episode of "Dancing With the Stars" in Los Angeles on Nov. 3, 2010. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Bristol Palin is giving fans a glimpse into how she is coping with facial paralysis, after being recently diagnosed with the condition.

The 34-year-old daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continued to share updates through her Instagram account after initially opening up about her health struggles on Jan. 29.

“If I just keep my mouth shut I look pretty normal, lol maybe it’s a sign,” she quipped in her most recent Instagram story.

The reality television star detailed how she woke up one morning to loss of feeling, vision impairment, and a delayed reaction to movement on the left side of her face.

“I woke up nine days ago with a little weird sensation in my face,” she told followers in an Instagram story video. “My mouth was pulling this way, and it just felt a little off. So I went, looked in the mirror. I’m like, ‘Wow. This is looking a little weird.’

“Within a couple hours, the entire left side of my face was numb and just paralyzed. Couldn’t really blink my eye. Definitely had no movement on [the left side] of my face. So crazy.”

As a result, Palin went to the doctor’s office for a number of tests including a CT scan to determine the cause.

Palin said “nothing came back in the results,” with doctors pointing to Bell’s palsy as a possibility. She was put on steroids and other medications, and has been getting acupuncture to help with recovery.

Doctors told Palin the condition could have been brought on by stress, lack of sleep, or other factors.

Bell’s palsy, a neurological disorder that can cause muscle weakness or paralysis on one side of a person’s face, is the most common type of facial paralysis and occurs when a nerve that controls facial muscles becomes inflamed, injured, or stops working properly, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Palin said she has seen improvements and is starting to get some feeling back.

“I know I look crazy right now, but this has been such an improvement from what I was looking like,” she said in her Instagram stories. “I’m finally starting to get some of the sensation back. It’s been a little painful the last two days, which is a [good] sign. It’s a good indication that it’s getting better. Praise the lord!”

In April of last year, NBA star Joel Embiid revealed he was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, which affected the left side of his face.

Back in 2022, Justin Bieber postponed shows during his Justice World Tour after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused paralysis on one side of his face.

“Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis,” Bieber said in an Instagram video at the time.