JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pop star Justin Bieber announced Friday on Instagram that he is suffering from a medical condition called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome also known as RHS.
In a video, Bieber shows paralysis on one side of his face that has left him unable to perform.
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“As you can see, this eye is not blinking….I can’t smile on this side of my face,” Bieber said in the social media video to his fans. “This nostril will not move. So, there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.”
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Ramsay Hunt Syndrome diagnosis is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox and shingles.
The syndrome “occurs when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near one of your ears.”
According to Dr. Vandana Bhide, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome already exists in your body if you’ve had either viruses or vaccines.
“It can activate in anybody at any age, which I know is scary because you hope that there’s some way you could prevent this, but there really isn’t,” Bhide an assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
According to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, symptoms can include:
- Severe pain in the ear
- Painful rash
- Hearing loss on one side
- Vertigo
- Paralysis on one side of the face
“It can be very serious. For the most part, it doesn’t cause death, but it can cause a lot of disability, especially in the ears or in the eye area,” Bhide said.
As far as treatments, steroids such as prednisone can be used to reduce inflammation and medication can be given for pain. Antiviral medicines that help with the herpes family may be prescribed as well.