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bristol palin wearing white dress © Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock

Bristol Palin shocks with photos of facial paralysis from neurological disorder

The Teen Mom alum had 'no movement' on the left side of her face

Jenni McKnight
US Lifestyle Editor
January 30, 2025
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Bristol Palin has "no movement" on the left side of her face as she revealed she is suffering from facial paralysis due to a neurological disorder.

The Teen Mom alum, 34, shared a lengthy video on her Instagram Stories on Wednesday alongside shocking images of her "crazy" facial paralysis.

"I woke up nine days ago with a little weird sensation in my face," the daughter of the former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin said. "My mouth was pulling this way, and it just felt a little off.

bristol palin facial paralysis© Instagram
Bristol has 'no movement' on the left side of her face

"Within a couple hours, the entire left side of my face was numb and just paralyzed, couldn't really blink my eye, definitely had no movement on this side of my face, so crazy."

Bristol explained that she went to seek medical advice and while the tests she had done turned up "nothing", her doctor believes she has a case of Bell's palsy.

Bristol continued: "Went to the doctor, they ran tests, gave me a CT scan, put me on steroids, put me on other medications. Nothing came back with all the results.

"They think it's just a case of Bell's palsy maybe brought on by stress or lack of sleep.… I'm not really sure, there was nothing I was super stressed out about, but I think it was brought on by stress."

bristol palin facial paralysis© Instagram
Bristol has been suffering with facial paralysis for nine days

According to the Mayo Clinic, Bell's palsy "is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. Often the weakness is short-term and improves over weeks. The weakness makes half of the face appear to droop. Smiles are one-sided, and the eye on the affected side is hard to close".

While Bristol is still suffering from facial paralysis, she said there has been an improvement in her condition.

bristol palin facial paralysis© Instagram
Doctors think Bristol has Bell's palsy

"I know I look crazy right now, but this has been such an improvement from what I was looking like," she said. "I'm finally starting to get some of the sensation back.

"It's been a little painful the last few days which is a sign, an indication that it's getting better, so praise the Lord – it's been wild."

Bristol admitted that the experience has made her rethink her insecurities about her appearance. 

brisol palin smiling for camera© Instagram
Bristol before her facial paralysis

She added: "The next time I look in the mirror and I pick myself apart where it's like, 'My nose is long, I want a nose job, or I want to do this, I want to do that,' I'm going to remember this and I'm just going to be so thankful for a normal functioning face 'cos this has been wild."

She also shared her advice for other suffers, revealing what treatments have been working for her.

bristol palin in red boots, jeans, black top and hat smiling mirror selfie© Instagram
Bristol has been trying acupuncture

She concluded: "Also if you know anyone that has any of these symptoms, I would highly, highly suggest going more Eastern medicine route as well.

"I've been getting acupuncture multiple times and that’s helped speed up the process of recovery tremendously."

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