Has any one here had Bell's Palsy? or knew someone who did? whats your story?

How long did it take to get over, have you ever had it again, did you have any lasting effects from it?

I got Bell's Palsy when I was 17. I just felt funny one day at work looked in the mirror and noticed one half of my face didn't work. It's not dangerous, just embarrassing. I didn't want to smile or eat in front of other people. The most annoying part was the dry eye, I had to use liquid tears all of the time because blinking didn't work, and my eyelid stayed mostly open as I slept. The doctors gave me some really nasty steroids to cure it, I took them once and couldn't take them again, they made me so ill. I thankfully recovered in about a month with no noticeable side effects.

On a side note Bell's Palsy is nicknamed the truckers disease because doctors frequently have truckers who have it on the left side of their face. Perhaps it has something to do with driving with the windows down. At 17 I was mostly a passenger thus my right side was affected. Just something to think about.

I had it twice in my life. I took the steroids...don't remember if they worked well. I recovered about 97%. I look as though I have a slight sleepy eye...like Paris and I my smile isn't exactly equal but that's okay because I gained enough control to make me look as though I am always flirting ;-) Report It

Know of two people who have had this, both males, one in their 60's and one in their 20's.
Both recovered fully, the older one took 3 - 4 months the younger was 1 1/2 months. Neither had it again since.

yes my uncle had a real bad case of it and he still has a lil droop to his face. and that has been like 9 yrs ago. I had it last year but real mild case and occasionally I get some numb spots on the left side of my face, I know it can keep reoccuring.

My dad had Bells Palsy for almost a year. It never came back after it went away. He had it in his 20s. A coworker of mine also had it, only a few months, and did not come back. She was in her early 20s also. No lasting affects on either of them