Bell’s Palsy

The name itself sounds pleasant, as if it was something Southern. Maybe a type of sweet pie. But in reality it is far from pleasant. My sister should know. Having to wake up one morning and find her infant with a side of the baby’s face dipping downward had to be devastating for the first time mom. As any mother would do in this situation, she rushed the baby to the pediatrician who named the disorder pleasantly “Bell’s Palsy”.

My sister was told to monitor the baby for the next couple of weeks and that the problem would clear up. Long, sleepless, and restless were those two weeks for my sister and her husband.

My sister was not given much information about the disorder. She received the “it happens in some babies” explanation. Being a parent myself, I would not accept such notations. Understanding how and why this came about would be my mission. The internet provided an overview of the disorder and tons of advertisements. At the library I found more luck with books on the subject of natural healing.

Once I explained my findings, fury towards her pediatrician was exerted by my sister. The information I researched would have been comforting to her and she would have been more in control of treating her baby. The disorder was simply a deficiency of minerals in the body, specifically Potassium and Sodium. Balance of the two is needed for maintaining fluids in the body’s cells. The right side of the body is influenced by Potassium and the left side by Sodium. In the case of Bell’s Palsy, the mineral deficiency would reveal itself in the form of facial muscles dipping. The side of the affected muscles would determine Potassium or Sodium deficiency. This information further led me to find out why the child was deficient in these minerals.

Knowing that Potassium is on the right side of the body and Sodium on the left, brought me to a conclusion that milk in a mother’s right breast is composed of Potassium, while the left breast has a Sodium composition. A baby that nurses always on one breast is not getting the needed balance of Sodium and Potassium. The pediatricians tell mothers to make sure to feed the baby from both breasts equally, but they never take the time to explain why. If the mothers knew the importance of the balance of Potassium and Sodium in the body, they would make sure to pump and nurse equally from both breasts.

Bell’s Palsy. Piece of pie.