In a video posted to Instagram on Saturday morning, Justin Bieber announced to fans he has developed a rare illness called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The illness has caused half his face to become paralysed.
In the emotional 3-minute clip, the singer explains how Ramsay Hunt syndrome has affected his facial nerves and forced him to cancel several of his recent shows.
View this post on Instagram
“I wanted to update you guys on what’s been going on,” the 28-year-old said.
“Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have a syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome 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.
“As you can see, this eye is not blinking,” said Bieber, gesturing to his right eye.
“I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.
“So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I’m just physically obviously not capable of doing them.
“This is pretty serious as you can see.
“I wish this wasn’t the case but obviously my body’s telling me I gotta slow down.
“This ain’t it.”
According to Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome “occurs when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near one of your ears.
“In addition to the painful shingles rash, Ramsay Hunt syndrome can cause facial paralysis and hearing loss in the affected ear.
“Ramsay Hunt syndrome is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. After chickenpox clears up, the virus still lives in your nerves. Years later, it may reactivate. When it does, it can affect your facial nerves.”
The singer ended the video by telling his 240 million Instagram followers he loved them and that he needed to rest up.
In the video, Bieber mentioned he was doing facial exercises to get his face “back to normal”.
The singer reassured fans it was indeed possible to rehabilitate his facial nerves. However, he just didn’t know how long the process would take.
Get well soon, king.
