Woman’s Tongue Goes Numb, Then Half of Her Face Stopped Working (Exclusive)

Savannah Mares-Sedillo didn’t think anything of it when she noticed that part of her tongue felt a bit numb.

A few days later, the actress and model woke up to a strange feeling in other parts of her face. She felt a burning sensation in her eyes and her face began twitching. Still, Mares-Sedillo went to work and tried to go about her day.

“I was filming auditions and kept powering through. That night, I started to feel sick,” she tells PEOPLE. “I wrote it off that morning. I woke up at 6:00 a.m ’cause I had to film an audition that was due at 10 a.m.”

“That morning I woke up and I was like, my lips feel a little weird and my eye feels a little weird,” she recalls,

The audition she was filming was particularly physically demanding, requiring running and other action. When she was done, however, she says half of her face stopped working. When she tried to smile, only one side responded, while the other didn’t budge.

Mares-Sedillo took a video and sent it to her mom, asking if it was normal. Her mom warned that it may be a sign of a stroke, which runs in their family. Mares-Sedillo immediately called a medical professional for advice and drove herself to urgent care as her eye seemingly got worse by the minute.

When she got there, however, the receptionist told her that they didn’t take her insurance and that there was “nothing they could do” if she was having a stroke.

She was advised to go to a nearby emergency room, so she got back in her car. When she arrived, she explained her symptoms to a nurse. Fearing she was in fact having a stroke, they took her in and immediately began running tests.

While they were able to rule out a stroke, they found out that she had a double ear infection and believed she had Bell’s Palsy. 

The condition causes sudden weakness or paralysis in muscles on one side of the face and is, in most cases, temporary, according to the Mayo Clinic. While it can be diagnosed after physical examination, there are no tests to confirm the diagnosis. The exact cause is also unknown, but it is believed to be related to inflammation in the facial nerve, potentially due to viral infections.

Not knowing much about the condition, Mares-Sedillo worried that her face would be permanently altered. However, her doctor assured her that she was lucky they caught it early, but it could still take months to heal. They suggested it could have been due to stress, which can be a trigger, as it may weaken the immune system and increase inflammation.

Her doctor prescribed her four different medications, including two different antibiotics and a strong steroid. 

With her acting and modeling career on pause amid her recovery, Mares-Sedillo wanted to find something to fill her days, while also documenting any changes in her face. She decided to turn to TikTok, where she shared videos about her condition and connected with other people who have Bell’s Palsy, some of whom recommended she try acupuncture as an additional treatment.

After her diagnosis, Mares-Sedillo felt alone, but found out quickly that there is a robust community on TikTok that could offer help. 

“After the first couple of videos of me talking about my experience, I started to realize how many people have had this. I didn’t realize it was such a big thing that so many people had struggled with,” Mares-Sedillo says. “I feel like it’s been the most authentic I’ve been and in return the most I’ve been able to connect with people and talk about things that I actually care about.”

“When you have Bell’s Palsy, a lot of people wanna hide that,” she adds. “I have the sense of not going out physically with my friends, but it feels comfortable and a safe space to do it on TikTok.” 

Through her TikTok videos and her community, Mares-Sedillo has been able to document her progress. People in the comments section often point out that they can see the difference in how her face is healing. Posting consistently has “kept [her] accountable” and has made a difference in how she feels day to day.

“I take my medications every day and keep up with my acupuncture and keep up with my videos because I want to show people that you can get better,” Mares-Sedillo shares. 

Her biggest takeaway from the community is that “no matter how specific you feel your situation is, there is always someone else also going through it.”

“There is a community out there for you. Even through these dark times, you can keep pushing through and hopefully find something positive that can come out of it. Find the little things to help you get through the dark times, and it’ll do a lot for your mental health,” Mares-Sedillo says.