Imagine waking up and not being able to smile, to eat or blink. It's a terrifying thought, especially for a child.
10-year-old Ryan Ferrell can brighten a room with his smile. But lately, that smile has been tough to crack. Ryan has Bell's palsy, a term used to describe paralysis on one side of the face.
"He's been upset that his face doesn't move. Sometimes when he drinks water it doesn't stay in his mouth," Barbara Ferrell, Ryan's mother, says.
Most of the 40,000 new cases a year are adults. But children can also be afflicted.
"I think many parents worry this is a stroke or some life-threatening occasion," Dr. Michael Goldstein, American Academy of Neurology, says.
That's because symptoms include a facial droop, twitching, pain behind the ear or the eye, dry mouth, and difficulty tasting food. Ryan started complaining of a headache and pain in his right eye.
"And I noticed that his mouth on one side was not matching the other side," his mom says.
While the exact cause of Bell's palsy is not known in all cases, Dr. Goldstein says typically the cause is an inflammation of the nerve that goes from the brain to the face, caused by a virus.
That virus is similar to the one that causes cold sores or the common cold. It can also be caused by illnesses such as Lyme disease. That's what's believed to be the culprit in Ryan's case.
Dr. Babak Azizzadeh is the founder of the Bell's palsy and Facial Paralysis Foundation. He says the condition affects patients, especially kids, emotionally as well as physically.
"Imagine how much kids make fun of other kids who have big ears or big noses or are a little overweight," Azizzadeh says. "Multiply that by 10 or 100 when a kid can't smile."
Kelly Ellison was diagnosed with Bell's palsy when she was 17-years-old
"Kids were so mean to me. I would go into school and they would just say the most hateful things," she says.
Today at 21, she still has trouble forming a smile. But Kelly is in the minority. Dr. Goldstein says about 85 percent of children recover from Bell's palsy completely. Sometimes, doctors will prescribe anti-viral medication.
"We usually see some kind of improvement within two to four weeks. The cycle of improvement often will take three to six months," he says.
Because Ryan has Lyme disease, his course of treatment is much different. He will be on IV drugs for at least four weeks.
In some cases of Bell's palsy, surgery is required, but only as a last resort. Dr. Goldstein says it's important to take your child to the doctor the instant you start to notice any symptoms.
