3 lifestyle changes I've made which have helped my recovery.

When it comes to facial palsy, there are so many different types of information out there about what is best to do in order to recover well, that I found it so overwhelming when I was trying to find ways to help myself. People said to massage everyday, others said don’t touch your face at all, chew gum, get reflexology, acupuncture, the list goes on and on. But along with my botox and physio treatment, I’ve found three really simple lifestyle changes which I think have really helped with my recovery, as well as improving my life in other ways! They might seem really obvious but they have worked, and I know that my medical treatments are the most important thing I can do for my healing, but I also think that if there is anything I can do naturally that even has a chance of helping I may as well give them a go, PLUS I know in terms of overall long term health they are really making a positive change, as well as physically and mentally, making me feel so much better.

1. sleep.

I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, but the benefits of a good night’s sleep are pretty incredible! I’ve always tried to get around 8 hours of sleep, but when I was first sick I was sleeping all day and all night, even now I could still sleep about 9 hours and have naps on the weekends. When I spoke to my neurologist about this back in January, she explained that this was my body’s natural way of trying to heal, physically and emotionally.

Sleep allows your brain to rest, allowing more oxygen to be carried around your body aiding muscle and cell rejuvenation. As well as this it can act as a natural painkiller, which for anyone with Neuralgia or Ramsay Hunt with that HORRIBLE head pain is a god send!

An article written by Ana Sandoiu on January 29, 2019 — Fact checked by Gianna D'Emilio, talking about a study done by Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California in Berkeley with doctoral candidate Adam Krause, found that the brain’s somatosensory cortex, a region associated with pain sensitivity, was hyperactive when the participants hadn’t slept enough. This confirmed the hypothesis that sleep deprivation would interfere with pain-processing neural circuits.

However, a surprising finding was that the activity in the brain’s nucleus accumbens was lower than usual after a sleepless night. The nucleus accumbens releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which increases pleasure and relieves pain.

“Sleep loss not only amplifies the pain-sensing regions in the brain but blocks the natural analgesia centers, too,” explains Prof. Walker.

Finally, the researchers found that the brain’s insula, which assesses pain signals and prepares the body’s reaction to pain, was also underactive.

“This is a critical neural system that assesses and categorizes the pain signals and allows the body’s own natural painkillers to come to the rescue,” notes Krause. Find the full article here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324316#How-sleep-loss-affects-pain-sensitivity

From researching all these benefits, it’s clear that literally anyone can benefit from more sleep, not just people going through a recovery. But that's not so easy for everyone, if you have trouble getting to sleep, you could always try having a calming bath before bed, spraying a lavender scent on your pillow, make sure you have no distractions like your phone screen or a tv.

I have heard from a friend though that there's an app where Harry Styles and other celebrities read you a bedtime story and it's the most calming thing ever??? I feel like I need to try this, please comment below if you've tried anything like this before and if that has worked for you!

I remember when I couldn’t close my eye, I would wear a patch and an eye mask to block out all the light and protect it, so maybe try one of these to be in full darkness. Whatever way helps you to fall asleep, it’s clear that anyone going through recovery needs to try and get as many hours in as possible, give in to the feeling like you need a to take a nap, get to bed early or enjoy a few hours sleeping in, it’s one the of the best things you can do for yourself and your health.

2. nutrition.

From the day I became ill I decided to eat super clean, I already had a knowledge that healthy eating was best for my body and my immune system, so whilst I let my body recover I would eat nothing but lean fish, fibre, vegetables and fruit, and drink nothing but water and green tea. I did this for months when I could do nothing but lie on the sofa so I wouldn’t feel sluggish or lower my overall health.

When I told my neurologist I had done this, she said that the best thing I could eat would be food rich in vitamin B, as this is vital for your nerves. This includes foods such as green and leafy vegetables, broccoli, spinach and asparagus, fruits like berries, peaches, cherries, red grapes, sweet potato, quinoa and avocado.

I like to think that including more of these foods in my diet has massively helped my nerve regeneration as each time I go for botox or have a physio session I’m told there has been great improvement and I’m getting back more and more function. You can definitely feel the effect of improving your nutrition on your body, when I went through my misdiagnosis 4 months after I went down this hole of eating nothing but comfort food. Mentally I was struggling with the fact that I would never fully heal, so I decided to give myself whatever I wanted as I felt as though I’d already restricted myself enough, and thought what's the harm now if I know I'll never recover! But I got so tired, sluggish, and I ended up putting on unhealthy weight. Once I recognised what was happening I immediately switched back to the healthier way of eating, still allowing the occasional takeaway or sweet food, but focusing much more on what was actually good for me. Another thing I would eat when I was first sick was lots of melon. My entire mouth was full of painful blisters, between that and the fact I couldn’t keep food in my mouth from no muscle function, I would just eat small chunks of melon as they were so cooling in my mouth and soft to eat. It turns out that watermelon has lots of healing properties, something I didn’t know whilst I was eating buckets of it! It can help reduce inflammation and stress, which for people with Bell’s Palsy is such an important benefit to reduce the inflammation of the main facial nerve. It can also relieve muscle soreness which when you’re doing physio could be really helpful, and it contains vitamin C which prevents eye deterioration. I worried about this so much when I had to wear an eye patch over my droopy eye for months, so it’s amazing to know that I was eating something that took care of my sight, and is also great for your skin and hair, so really what isn’t to love about this?!

3. walk.

When I got misdiagnosed I went down a deep depression rabbit hole, I wasn’t talking, showering, leaving my sofa. Jak tried to get me out of the house for walks and fresh air, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I felt like I was sat in this dug out hole in the ground, looking up at the sky and not being able to get up there. A few weeks in Jak had persuaded me to do 15 minutes, probably not even that, just down the main road and back up again. It was January so I got my biggest coat on and eventually got outside. Doing those 15 minutes did wonders, I was talking again, I was telling Jak about my upcoming treatments, what I was working on, and asking him about what he was doing. I breathed actual fresh air for the first time in so long. After this I was going out everyday, doing my 15 minutes, and eventually building up to do more and more, it really helped to clear my mind of any stress and anxiety from the day and feel more fresh and clear. I looked up if 15 minutes was enough to do anything to me health wise, and it actually does?! Apparently it can help with Lower blood pressure, reduces the risk for certain types of cancer, risk of Type 2 Diabetes, and can aid weight loss! Knowing that it positively affects both my physical and mental health, I could not recommend it enough, especially for someone recovering from facial palsy. When my head pain was so unbearable I would still try and get outside even for 5 minutes, a breath of fresh air and a change of scenery will work wonders, so I am the biggest advocate for a quick stroll around the block!

I told you these steps were going to super simple and pretty obvious, but because of that I feel like sometimes they can be overlooked. I know I’ve made excuses in the past like I’m too tired, I’ve got too much work on or I haven’t got the time, but when you start to build those really simple steps into your day to day life that’s when they become more long term changes to your life and your health.

Each one of these has helped me with pain management, feeling more full of energy and more clear in my own mind. Small steps like this are an act of self care and self love, you’re giving your time back to you to implement healthier choices which will definitely benefit you long term. I don't want to make it sounds like I'm getting super preachy about changing your life, and please don't feel the pressure to try and do it all in one go and putting pressure on yourself to fit all of these in, it took time for me to be able to make it all work in my life, and I haven't made all these changes at once. Maybe you can try and start with building one of them into your day to day life, every small action and change will help in the long run, and you'll know that you're making a positive change for yourself which is the most important part.