Bells Palsy and what I did

Well they said I would never recover I haven't fully but it is much better than it was. my face was a mix between flaccid and a Hemi facial spasm so it looked a little swollen in my cheek, my eye was wide open as many peoples are then for awhile it seemed that it was going to be normal size then it started to get smaller than my good side.All of my nerves in my face seemed to be attached to my eye. meaning when I made any movement with my mouth my eye would try to close.

Nerves
The nerves in my neck, face and head were all attached to my shoulder, so everything went into pain at the same time. It seemed that most practitioners did not know what to do to help so I have spent a lot of time and money trying to relax all of those facial muscles, nerves and adhesion's, (it would be similar to someone that has a knot in their back and having a message to try to release it).

This is what I did.
I first started with straight acupuncture about a week after the BP first hit. I could I see out of my affected eye nor did have the energy to go anywhere (due to the Lyme-which I didn't know at the time. I simply could not function).

After three months my neurologist said I would never improve, I told her that I had just started to get back the tinniest movement, and that I actually made a tear after watching a touching movie of animals - that was a HUGE deal - I made I tear ! I was SO EXCITED - the tinniest thing was such a big deal.

It was not until I asked for electrical stimulation on the needles that it seemed to make the a slight movement in my upper lip (and this was three months after the initial damage). That was when I realized that I could not believe everything the doctor said.

I told the doctor about the electrical stimulation that I was doing and how I thought that this was the only thing that made any difference. She then prescribed Physical therapy - with stronger electrical stimulation which may have been a little too strong. I feel as people with BP we need to be careful that we don't over do it because then it seems in can go in the opposite direction and then turn into a jokers smile so pace it, meaning hit it hard, then give it a break, then over again.

I might have done more of the electrical stimulation but I was also dealing with the Lyme / Babesia and could not afford the Lyme treatment and treatment on my face at the same time. It was not until I was officially in remission that could I then turn my attention back over to my face.

Osteopath
About 3 1/2 years later I then started to see an osteopath. (I tried one before without much success she really didn't do much and I noticed no difference). This time this doctor was not gentle and found out that I had NO IDEA how much pain I still had in my face until he touched certain areas of my jaw, inside my mouth, touched parts of my face by my brow and nose and by my ear. I was in agony, wanted to cry, I wanted him to stop but just let him do what he needed to. (It was funny how I looked forward to my appointments with him where I knew that i was going to be in pain) but I think what kept me going was intuition and the realization and shock that my face still was in pain.

Electrical Stimulation
I would see him once a month then after a month or two the pain subsided, it started to feel sort of like the other side and people started to notice that I had more symmetry. I was please that people that hadn't seen me in a few months could actually notice a difference and that my face didn't feel as pulled anymore. So I feel what the doctor was able to do was to take the areas that were frozen and now have those channels open up for stimulation.

I then started Macro Electrical Stimulation ...apparently a very old technique with electrical currents that are compatible with your body it's not noticeable, only if it touches dry skin, then it is a slight zap. What they do is place a wet towel over the area that they want to treat then apply the current. The current is focused in these areas but runs through your body...the current it is very very slight and as I said not noticeable.

I'm coming up to 4 years on May 4, I'm happy to be where I'm at, have quite a bit of energy (which is huge) I am now able to exercise, trying Zumba (1-3 times a week, and am actually sweating (something I don't usually do) and when I do I think of all of those little creatures (Lyme) and how I am making an an environment that is hostel to them. Exercise, sweating, breathing and attitude.