Justin Bieber’s Ramsay Hunt Syndrome | MedPage Today – Medpage Today

So far, this year hasn’t gone so well for Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey. In March, Hailey was hospitalized after having transient ischemic attacks. It was later discovered that this was due to a patent foramen ovale (see our story about her here). And now, the pop star himself has canceled his current tour due to health concerns.

Bieber took to Instagram, saying: “Hey everyone. Justin here. I wanted to update you guys on what’s been going on. Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome [RHS], and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.” He then demonstrated how he is unable to blink his right eye, wiggle his nose, or smile on the right side of his face. He added: “I’m gonna get better and I’m doing all these facial exercises to get my face back to normal and it will go back to normal. It’s just time.”

In a later Instagram story, Bieber asked fans to pray for him as it’s “been getting progressively harder to eat, which has been extremely frustrating.”

What Is Ramsay Hunt Syndrome?

RHS is a rare neurological disorder characterized by paralysis of the facial nerve and a rash affecting the ear or mouth. It is also known as herpes zoster oticus, and is a complication of varicella-zoster infection that has caused inflammation of the geniculate ganglion of cranial nerve VII (the facial nerve).

RHS is described as a triad of symptoms:

• Ipsilateral facial paralysis

• Vesicles near the ear and auditory canal, described as erythematous and vesicular; the rash can also affect the mouth, soft palate, and throat

The cause of RHS is the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles. After an acute infection (often in childhood) the virus can remain dormant in the cranial nerve or dorsal root ganglia and reactivate any time later (even many decades later) at times of physiological stress or immunocompromise.

Most commonly the reactivation presents as shingles with pain and vesicles in the dermatome of the affected nerve(s). RHS is a rarer presentation of VZV reactivation.

It is estimated that RHS occurs in five out of every 100,000 people each year in the United States. It affects males and females equally, and accounts for approximately 7% of all cases of acute facial paralysis. RHS can occur at any age, but is most common in older people, in their 60s and 70s.

Symptoms

RHS often begins with a prodrome of pain, fever, and fatigue for 1 to 3 days. This …….

Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/popmedicine/celebritydiagnosis/99229