In A&E with a numb face...keep me company please?!

[numbcheek]

I've NC'd for this.

Yesterday afternoon my face suddenly went numb on the right side. No other symptoms but my face has drooped and 24 hours on is still numb.

Anyone ever had this? What was the outcome? I tried hard not to google it but it's very worrying.

111 sent me to A&E and I've had bloods taken. It looks to be a long wait!

It's busy, people are queuing on ambulance stretchers to get in. Standing room only (because half the chairs are taped off for social distancing).

So far, there has been one person in for toothache, one because he's punched a wall on Christmas Day, another with a sore toe....

@JazzyGeoff Bell's palsy causes facial muscle weakness (which is an odd sensation but is not numbness). It also affects taste sensation on the front part of the tongue on the side affected. Facial skin sensation is supplied by branches of 5th cranial nerve not the 7th (which is the nerve involved in Bell's palsy). Hope that helps.

@Wife2b

Does he go on to have a painful migraine with other symptoms?

Ok so carrying on the rubbish jokes theme-

Why can’t a car play football?

Because it’s only got one boot!

.... you’re welcome🙈

As an aside- yep dh is going for baked beans AND sprouts. Not only do I think that’s a gross combo, I’m a bit concerned for myself later on 🌬

Spare room for him. Windy Miller

@Greybeardy ah sorry I didn't phrase that very well- I wasn't asking for me, I had Bells Palsy for quite some time and understand it, I meant I'd asked the OP. But thank you

Greybeardy

To everyone suggesting Bells palsy - it doesn't cause facial numbness.

Hope you get your answers soon OP.
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Yes I had facial numbness on the right side of my face, when I had it, I dribbled as well when I took a drink.

can't help with the medical issues..but if you have netflix and no headphones, turn off the sound and turn on the subtitles?

Thanks @numbcheek

I hope my teatime concerns are not annoying- I am thinking of you but you did ask to be kept company. I’m sure they’ll sort it out soon enough.

Hi OP.

I had Bell's palsy a few years ago. It was quite weird, it even made my forehead wrinkles disappear on one side.
I took steroid tablets for about a week which is supposed to help.

Eye care: I couldn't close my eye, so kept it taped closed at night (and sometimes during the day) to protect it. I was given some eye ointment to stop it drying out too much.

Eating and drinking: maybe best done in private until you get the hang of it. There was drooling.

My GP referred me to a physio who gave me a sheet of exercises to do every day and she also did some acupuncture every few days.

After about three weeks I noticed the first hint of movement on the paralysed side. It was then a gradual recovery over the next 2-3 weeks. I was left with no permanent effects.

I hope everything's OK. I wish the receptionist would tell those accompanying patients to stand up and give a patient a seat.

@Orchidflower1 not at all. I wanted to chat! Takes my mind off it. 5 hours and no scan just yet.

I can blink and can move my face, I just can't feel it and can't lift my lip if that makes sense. My lip has gone white at one side and my nostril is flat

Hope you're sorted and out of there very soon!

OP, is it the whole side of your face or like a section of it? Just curious what the distribution is. HMU if you want a chat about cranial nerves...

Hope you get your scan soon and they get to the bottom of it. Agree with pp they should defo make any non patients stand.

It's the whole side of my face. The right nostril but not the left. So very strange

@Greybeardy

To everyone suggesting Bells palsy - it doesn't cause facial numbness.

Hope you get your answers soon OP.

It did for me and it did for other people I've met since, the feeling in my left side has never fully recovered.

I've been one of the unlucky small per cent who never fully recovered but I was never offered steroids although I did have a cut scan.

OP, you mentioned the stroke nurse being told about you, I'd not worry about that, it could be just because the facial exercises can be similar, if not the same as what people who've had a stroke can be given.

Crikey, that's interesting. I really hope you get an answer after CT scan (and that you come back to tell us)

I will let you know the outcome for sure. 5 and a half hours and still not scanned.

Why oh why didn't I bring snacks?!

You poor thing. I hope you’ve been seen.

I had the exact symptoms last year. I was kept in hospital overnight and was told I'd had a TIA. Went to the stroke clinic a week later and told it was migraine.

Hope you get answers soon!

Here’s a wee joke for you.

Wee woman running to chapel on a Sunday morning, she trips and falls flat on her face, a wee boy rushes over to help her....’oh son, is mass out?’ ‘No, but your hats squinty’

Oh god hope you're okay OP! Can anyone bring you any entertainment/food?

How’s your mouth? With you saying you can move your face to me that doesn’t sound like BP. I’ve unfortunately had this numerous occasions and never been referred for scans or needed A&E. Obviously I appreciate every instance presents itself differently.

Getting the stroke nurses involved is a good move by the doctor, they will often spot subtle signs that more general doctors don't. A CT scan will help rule out a few things but they may want you to come back for an MRI as an outpatient, as that is more detailed.

I'm awful at the alternative palm slapping thing as well!