A healthy 27-year-old man sitting in a car let out a long yawn. Soon after, the right side of his face stopped working normally. His right ear felt full, his cheek and tongue went numb, and he could not close his right eye.
Sudden weakness on one side of the face is one of the classic warning signs of stroke. In this man's case, after brain and ear imaging came back clear, doctors in Italy diagnosed something far rarer: alternobaric facial palsy, a pressure-related injury to the facial nerve usually tied to scuba diving, flying or altitude. He recovered fully within three weeks.
