child developed bell's palsy after contact with chicken pox

[Nichola35]

My 2 yr old developed a facial palsy on one side of her face after she came into contact with chicken pox virus....My child didnt get chicken pox but got a facial palsy...Apparently it is fairly common and people can get it following any type of virus but especially the varicella(chicken pox) virus.....Very distressing to see....but have been told it will take between 2-4 weeks to go back to normal....

Aww poor thing! I didn't know that about CP but my brother had Bells Palsy a few years ago. He was very scared, he thought he was having a stroke but it did clear up and he has no lasting effects.

Awww thanx...How long did ya brother have it for?? and how old was he when he got it?? Been to see Paeds today and she on high dose of steroids......very distressing.....but its good to hear your brothers cleared up...

He was in his early 20's I think. It lasted about 2/3 weeks but gradually got better over that time. How is she today?

she seems a little better today.....its only been one week....so maybe im expecting it to be better overnight....

A friend of mine had this too.

It took 3 to 4 weeks to finally go completely, but he is absolutely fine now. He was about 30 at the time

I also had a friend whho got it, but after having a tick? Apparently they carry virus too. She was 15 or 16 at the time. Anyway, she had a facial palsy for a couple of months then it cleared up and no lasting ill effects. I seem to remember that the steroids made her face puff up though, which may or may not happen to your dd. If it does that too will go away. Glad your dd is feeling better!

My Dad had Bells Palsy but when he was in his 60s, it did go away.
DS's friend did have a stroke caused by chicken pox, a high percentage of childhood strokes are as a result of chicken pox.

I had bells palsy at 16. It lasted a couple of weeks.

A friend of mine had it too following a virus. Again it lasted about 3-4 weeks and then he was absolutely back to normal.

DS had a Bells Palsy at age 4, so I totally understand how distressing this is.

We assume it was a virus, (he had Chicken pox at 6m old), but started when nursery noticed one eye wasn't blinking and over a few hours half his face froze.

He had to drink with a straw & we had to tape his eye shut at night & put drops in to keep it lubricated.

After about a week we noticed the corner of his mouth had started to twitch again, and by 2 weeks he was moving almost 100%.

He had no lasting effects apart from, when he got tired or had just woken, he tended to pull strange faces! (We had to tell his school when he started). We were warned he may be prone to them, but he is now 15 and it never returned.