Health matters: NBA star Joel Embiid reveals he suffers from Bell’s palsy after fans noticed he couldn’t close his eye

If you have been being attentive to the NBA currently (because a few of us girls, including me, have been doing that), then you already know that the playoffs recently began. The games are intense, especially the present matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks.

The 76ers’ biggest star, center Joel Embiid, scored 50 points in Game 3, but many of the speak about his performance focused on his eye. The star player had difficulty blinking and even closing his left eye when cameras focused on him, including on the free throw line, leaving people on Twitter wondering what was incorrect with him.

So when Embiid stepped as much as the rostrum at post-match conference on Thursday night revealed that he had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. The disease causes muscle weakness on one side of the face, including difficulty blinking and drooping of the mouth.

I do not know exactly what happened, but after all I believe it’s a standard thing,” he said, standing at the microphone wearing sunglasses. Embiid began to experience migraine headaches that he thought were “nothing,” but things regularly got worse. “I ended up having to tell someone.”

“My body just wasn’t feeling it and of course if you google the symptoms lately you’ll know what it is. It’s quite annoying,” he added. “The left side of my face, mouth and eye were difficult. This is unfortunate; that’s how I look at it, but it’s not an excuse. You have to keep pushing.”

Embiid has suffered fractures to each his left and right orbital bones over the past few years, but that is not what caused his condition to be so serious.

Here are five quick facts about Bell’s palsy:

• Bell’s palsy is unexplained facial paralysis or weakness; to this, Embiid noted that he didn’t know what caused it. It can affect anyone, no matter age or gender, though National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke claims that it often affects people aged 15 to 45. Embiid is 30 years old. However, it could be related to a viral infection, including chickenpox, herpes, respiratory diseases, flu, and others.

• The condition begins with damage to the facial nerve and symptoms include headache, tearing, inability to close the eye, inability to manage facial muscle movements including blinking and smiling, and even possible lack of taste and sensitivity to sound.

• Although the symptoms may be very difficult to treat, for most individuals with Bell’s palsy it is taken into account a short lived problem. Symptoms may subside inside just a few weeks, sometimes around six months. Very rarely, symptoms occur on each side of the face or for the remainder of your life.

• Although Embiid initially tried to downplay the symptoms as “nothing,” experts say the primary signs of something like Bell’s palsy needs to be taken seriously to be sure that they don’t seem to be actually symptoms of a stroke or multiple sclerosis, since these conditions have similar symptoms.

• In addition to covering the eye that will not close (with sunglasses like Embiid’s, regular glasses, or an eye patch), it is vital to moisturize. Generally treatment methods may include using steroids, antiviral medications, pain medications, and sometimes physical therapy to assist restore the conventional condition of the facial nerve.

While it’s “unfortunate,” as Embiid noted, that he’s battling Bell’s palsy at a time when he’s focused on trying to guide his team to a championship, he did provide individuals with some education in regards to the disease, which affects about 40,000 people a yr within the United States. Embiid is not searching for sympathy. He is prepared to arrange for his fourth match and proceed his efforts to win his first title.

“I’m not giving up,” Embiid said. “You have to fight everything.”