Coping With Bell's PalsyThis section is a place to share stories about Coping With Bell's Palsy Below are entries of those who have already shared their stories. We hope that you find their experiences helpful to your own situation. You may also Help others by sharing your story. To quickly access health information from your website's browser, download My daughter is 4 and has Bell’s Palsy 
My daughter is only 4 and has Bell’s palsy. We woke up one morning 4 1/2 weeks ago and the left side of her face was drooping. At first it looked like her face was really swollen. We brought her into the doctor immediately. I work at a clinic/hospital and they advised me to just wait until clinic hours and bring her in. She was diagnosed with blocked salivary ducts. As the day progressed we noticed her mouth was definitely drooping. Called our doctor again and she mentioned it could be Bell’s. We decided to take our daughter to a pediatrician for a second opinion the next day. Madison wasn’t in any pain, but we were very concerned. The pediatrician also agreed with the Bell’s Palsy diagnosis. They also drew blood for a Lyme’s disease test and Epstein-Barr syndrome. Both came back negative. We were given an antibiotic for her to take in case she did have Lyme’s. It was a devastating weekend for us. I can’t imagine my little girl not having her smile back. I couldn’t just leave it at just waiting it out. The pediatrician told us that it could take 10 days to many months for her to regain control again of her face. The following Monday, which was only 5 days later. I talked to our family practice doctor. She said that we would need to wait at least a week to see if there was any change. If there was no change, then they would try a steroid. So, no change after a week. She was put on 1/2 tsp of Prednisone twice a day for one week. We saw no change with this. We brought her in once again. More labs done to check her white blood count. From my research on Bell’s I had also read that facial paralysis can be caused by leukemia. Thankfully, her’s is not caused by that. I was then told it would be too late to try her on Acyclovir, which is used to treat Herpes Simplex 1. This has also been shown to speed the recovery in patients. We were told once again to just wait it out. It will get better with time. There is no need for us to come in again. As parents, and as a mother, I just can’t sit here and wait. I want her to be back to normal now. People tell me how lucky we are that she is only 4 and not self conscious yet. Once she realized that her smile is crooked, she is self conscious. Looking at pictures we had taken with family over this past month, she had told me the pictures were just ugly. I asked her why?, and she said because she had a crooked smile. I did my best pep talk and how she was not ugly and she had a very pretty smile. Later that night she asked me if she would have an ugly crooked smile forever. I told her of course not and to not worry about it. I wanted so badly to just hold her and cry, but I will stay strong for her. I can understand how you are feeling. I know doctors try to be helpful. But they have to understand, as a parent, you would do anything for your child. I am at a loss of what to try now. I have been researching alternative treatments. A friend of mine, who is also a massage therapist, has suggested using a combination on essential oils and massaging them on the skin. I am up for anything at this point. Hopefully it will help things out. If you have any helpful hints for me, they would be greatly appreciated. I am so sorry if I sound negative. I was just so relieved to see a post from someone else with a younger child with Bell’s Palsy. We also get told that she is really too young to have gotten this. Well, if she is, should they be checking for something else??
August 2007
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