Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid has Bell’s palsy; what to know about the condition

Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid announced last week that he had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a condition that can lead to muscles on one side of a person’s face becoming weak or paralyzed.

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The condition comes on unexpectedly and can range from mild to severe issues with the muscles in the face.

Embiid said he started to notice the symptoms of Bell’s palsy nearly two weeks ago.

“It’s pretty annoying. My left side of my face, my mouth and my eye, so yeah, it’s been tough,” Embiid said, “but I’m not a quitter, so I got to keep fighting through anything. It’s unfortunate, that’s the way I look at it. That’s not an excuse, I got to keep pushing.”

Here’s what to know about the mostly temporary condition:

According to Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Bell’s palsy is an unexplained episode of facial muscle weakness or paralysis. It begins suddenly and worsens over 48 hours. Pain and discomfort usually occur on one side of the face or head.

It can strike anyone at any age, but is less common before age 15 or after age 60. Bell’s palsy affects men and women equally.

Recovery from Bell’s palsy usually begins two weeks to six months from the onset of the symptoms. Most people with Bell’s palsy recover full facial strength and expression.

It is not known what causes Bell’s palsy, but it is thought that it may be due to inflammation that is directed by the body’s immune system against the nerve controlling movement of the face, according to Johns Hopkins.

Bell’s palsy is sometimes associated with the following:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Injury
• Toxins
• Lyme disease
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Sarcoidosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Infection, especially following a viral infection with Herpes simplex virus (a virus that is related to the cause of the common “cold sores” of the mouth)

What are the symptoms of Bell’s palsy?

These are the most common symptoms of Bell’s palsy:

• Disordered movement of the muscles that control facial expressions, such as smiling, squinting, blinking or closing the eyelid
• Loss of feeling in the face
• Headache
• Tearing
• Drooling
• Loss of the sense of taste on the front two-thirds of the tongue
• Hypersensitivity to sound in the affected ear (hyperacusis)
• Inability to close the eye on the affected side of the face

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