Bristol Palin Updates on Facial Paralysis and ‘Crooked Face’

Bristol Palin shared an update on her scary battle with facial paralysis while celebrating Thanksgiving with family near her Austin, Texas home on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Austin Home Seekers realtor – who boasts 989,000 social media followers – shared an Instastory featuring herself and nine-year-old daughter Sailor Grace Meyer detailing their festive ‘fits’ for turkey day.

‘Black skinnies, black long sleeve, same denim shirt I wear all the time, vintage Louis Vuitton,’ Palin listed off.

‘…and still a crooked face,’ the star added.

In August, during day 194 of her condition, the nepo baby of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin had said her face was ‘slowly getting better.’

Palin was diagnosed with a form of Bell’s palsy in January, revealing: ‘I woke up and it was paralyzed, completely out of the blue – no warning, wasn’t sick, didn’t get the [vaccine], no recent Botox… just paralyzed.’

The Boy Hart founder quit caffeine and processed foods and she’s undergone numerous treatments to help speed up her recovery including acupuncture, massage, oxygen chamber treatment and red light therapy.

Most people completely recover from Bell’s palsy in about six months, which means Palin is suffering from a more severe version of the short-term muscle weakness condition.

Some experts think the facial droop is caused by irritation of the nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face while others believe it’s a reaction to a viral infection such as herpes or mononucleosis – according to the Mayo Clinic.

Other celebrities who’ve reportedly come down with Bell’s palsy include George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, The Bachelorette alum Emily Maynard Johnson and wrestling announcer Jim Ross.

The house flipper also welcomed eight-year-old daughter Atlee Bay Meyer during her 19-month marriage to Medal of Honor-winning Marine Dakota Meyer, which ended in 2018.

Palin was only 18 when she and her high school sweetheart-turned-fiancé Levi Johnston welcomed their 16-year-old son Tripp Easton before splitting five years later in 2010.

The NY Times bestselling author’s pregnancy was announced at the 2008 Republican National Convention and caused a mini-scandal in the vice presidential campaign of her 61-year-old mother.

Last year, Tripp made the decision to move to Alaska to live with his 35-year-old father, who welcomed three homeschooled daughters with wife Sunny Oglesby Johnston.

‘As hard as it is for me, and it’s so hard for my girls too, I know that he needs to grow that relationship with his dad,’ Palin said on the Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast last year.

‘And he loves Alaska so much, he’s hunting and fishing all the time. So I know that it’s going to be a good thing.’

The former teen mom visits the aspiring motocross rider ‘every other month’ and speaks with him via FaceTime ‘every day before and after school.’

As for future plans, Palin said in July she’d ‘never push college’ as Tripp ‘wants to work’ and ‘have his hand in some sort of real estate/development.’

The 5ft6in brunette competed on two season of ABC dance competition, Dancing with the Stars, in 2010 (placing third) and 2012 (placing ninth).

Meanwhile, Tripp and his dance partner Hailey Bills were the first pair eliminated in ABC spin-off Dancing with the Stars: Juniors in 2018.