Posted by Tobie on November 23, 2008, at 16:39:36
Let me introduce myself and begin an explanation of my issues. I am a 37 year old male, physically fit, and I take 300 mg of Wellbutrin a day for recurrent or constant low-grade depression.
I'm attempting to find answers to a problem I'm having with slightly decreased agility and droop on one side of the face. This is subtle, but quite noticeable to me, and though Bell's Palsy will be the first thought that comes to mind for most of you, it is not this.
In 2004, after a traumatic event, I became concerned as well about the look of anguish on the face. Botox was considered a safe and temporary solution for relieving that look across the brow. I had one treatment to the brow, and one again later to the glabella, which at a specific injection point was much more painful than all the others. The effect should have been completely gone after six months, yet I never recovered full expressivity to the right eyebrow. A year later, there was a subtle droop to the right eyebrow, and now four years later, the right eyelid tends to hang a bit lower over the eye.
I've approached a neurologist and a physical therapist, but their findings were vague, and the treatment with the PT was pursued too aggressively, perhaps causing further muscle imbalance (I later learned through a 2nd PT that you should not overly exert yourself in training facial muscles). There appears to possibly be slight nerve damage, and more than likely a degree of synkinesis, either as a result of nerve damage (faulty rewiring of the new connections)or the massive overtraining I did in an effort to correct the initial problem.
The concern mounted and I again attempted a cosmetic solution, two rounds of subscission under the glabella. (In this process, a wire is cuts fibers underneath the lines on the skin in an attempt release them and allow the lines to raise). I do not know if this had any further negative impact on my facial movement issues.
This had been tremendously stressful because ones face is in a sense the interface by which we communicate with the world, and changes like these feel dramatic. This event, or series of events, has touched of a near obsessive concern with these issues (I've looked into BDD and discussed at length with a therapist) but now, instead of solely turning to the professionals which I initially and wisely did, I am trying on input from others. Responses are very much appreciated.
poster:Tobie
thread:864896
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/health/20080428/msgs/864896.html