My husband got a bout of it some years ago. They gave him the steroid/antiviral treatment as a matter of routine, but he was also told that the cold blast he got whilst up a hill in Siberia could have been the cause. There are two schools of thought. One goes with the cold theory, the other an unspecified virus. Both agree that the result is an inflammation of the nerves, which causes the familiar droop. He did say he felt a little bit as if he had a virus on the day of diagnosis.

However, once he got used to sleeping in an eyepatch, using artificial tears, and was happy he hadn't had a stroke, he cheered up no end....especially when he worked out how to drink beer without spilling much! It lasted only about a fortnight in total, and he was much improved, even after a week.

There is a surgical procedure that can be done to improve the facial appearance a bit if it doesn't settle down, but they don't, I believe, start looking at going down that path until at least a year has passed.

Andrea