What Is Bell's Palsy & What Does the Diagnosis Mean for Chrissy Teigen

Kimberly Zapata
Updated

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Chrissy Teigen is an open book. The model, author and television personality is bold, brazen and doesn’t hold much back. But a recent tweet has fans worried. On Tuesday, Teigen admitted she has been dealing with facial tingling and numbness, both of which are symptoms of Bell’s palsy. So what is BP? According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition causes sudden weakness in your facial muscles, and this weakness often results in droopy eyelids and/or a one-sided smile.

Related: Arielle Jacobs’s Bell’s Palsy Experience

The cause of Bell’s palsy is not known, though it often occurs during (or shortly after) a viral infection. Pregnancy also increases your risk of contracting the condition. Women in their third trimester or one week postpartum are particularly vulnerable. The good news is that Bell’s palsy is both temporary and treatable. According to the Mayo Clinic, most people with Bell’s palsy recover — with or without treatment — and while there’s no one-size-fits-all way to manage BP, your doctor may prescribe one of several different medications, including corticosteroids and/or anti-viral drugs. The condition is also relatively rare.

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Bell’s palsy afflicts approximately 40,000 Americans each year.

Teigen hinted at a potential problem in 2015, when she tweeted “I can’t feel my left jaw.” However, it is important to note that Teigen has not said she was diagnosed with the condition — at least not yet. Rather, her tweet implied she has Bell’s palsy. “I honestly thought it was,” the Lip Sync Battle host wrote.

It is also unclear if the 2015 tweet is in any way related to the one written on July 16.

That said, if Teigen does have BP, she would not be the first celebrity diagnosed with the condition. Pierce Brosnan contracted Bell’s Palsy in the 1980s, Carnie Wilson revealed she was dealing with BP in 2013, and in 2016, Angelina Jolie admitted she was struggling with the condition.

For more information about Bell’s palsy, visit the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes.

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