The actor George Clooney revealed in a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel that at just 13 years old he was diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a facial nerve abnormality that causes sudden weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face.

It all started after Kimmel "pulled out of mothballs" a photo of Clooney from his younger days.

It was obvious that it looked unusual at first glance, and Clooney explained what it was all about. The actor said that there is Bell's palsy in the photo, that half of his face is paralyzed and that he struggled with this health problem in his teenage years.

"Wait, I want to point out something, because you're going to laugh and make a joke. I have Bell's palsy there and half of my face is paralyzed." https://t.co/NNujiFKtms

— BuzzFeed Celeb (@BuzzFeedCeleb) January 28, 2023

According to the Mayo Clinic, in most cases the symptoms of Bell's palsy go away after a while, but in some people they can leave consequences that last a lifetime.

Signs of Bell's palsy appear suddenly and may include sudden onset of weakness or even complete paralysis on one side of the face, facial droop and difficulty in facial expressions such as closing the eye or smiling, increased salivation, pain in the jaw or ears, increased sensitivity to sounds, headache, as well as loss of taste.

In rare cases, Bell's palsy can affect the nerves on both sides of the face.

The exact cause of this disease is unknown, but experts believe it is caused by swelling and inflammation of the nerve that controls the muscles on one side of the face. Also, Bell's palsy can be caused by a reaction that appears after a viral infection in the body. Symptoms usually begin to improve within a few weeks, and only in very rare cases does the disease recur.

George Clooney has talked about it before, and in his case it lasted about nine months and happened when he was a freshman in high school.

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