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Usher says Justin Bieber is ‘doing great’ following Ramsay Hunt Syndrome diagnosis

Bieber is experiencing ‘full paralysis’ on right side of his face as a result of a rare virus

Peony Hirwani
Tuesday 19 July 2022 06:29 BST
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Justin Bieber tells fans half his face is paralysed due to rare virus
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Rapper Usher has revealed that Justin Bieber is “doing great” after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome last month.

In June, Bieber announced he has been experiencing “full paralysis” on the right side of his face as a result of the rare virus.

In an interview with Extra, Usher shared that he and Bieber recently “managed to hang out” while on vacation and disclosed that the singer is “doing great”.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare neurological disorder, characterised by a rash that occurs around the ear, face, or mouth and paralysis of the facial nerve.

The syndrome is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.

The “Peaches” singer, who was on his Justice World Tour, originally postponed his Toronto concert dates last month due to symptoms caused by the virus.

Soon after that, he posted a video on Instagram to show and explain to fans the extent of his ailment.

“Hey everyone, Justin here. I wanted to update you guys on what’s been going on,” he began.

“Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis,” he continued.

“As you can see this eye is not blinking,” Bieber continued, while demonstrating the lack of movement in his right eye. “I can’t smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move, so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.”

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“So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I’m just physically, obviously, not capable of doing them,” he explained.

“This is pretty serious as you can see. I wish this wasn’t the case, but obviously, my body’s telling me that I gotta slow down. I hope you guys understand and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100 per cent so that I can do what I was born to do.”

He assured fans: “I’m gonna get better and I’m doing all these facial exercises to get my face back to normal and it will go back to normal, it’s just time and we don’t know much time it’s gonna be.”

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