Frightening news from a modern-day pop icon today, as Justin Bieber shared a worrisome health update with fans.
The singer took to Instagram to both explain and demonstrate a condition for which he’s now received a diagnosis.
It seems Bieber was shocked recently to find that he was unable to move one side of his face.
Justin explained the condition to fans in a video with a caption reading:
“IMPORTANT PLEASE WATCH. I love you guys and keep me in your prayers.”
“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 said. “As you can see, this eye is not blinking,” Bieber told his 240 million followers.
“I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move.”
Justin explained that he’s been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a condition that occurs when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near one of the patient’s ears.
The good news is that in most cases, the symptoms are temporary.
Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing how long Justin will affected by the viral infection.
“This is pretty serious as you can see,” Justin explained.
“I wish this wasn’t the case but obviously my body is telling me I have to slow down,” he continued.
“I hope you guys understand and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100 percent so I can do what I was born to do.”
Obviously, it’s a frightening condition, but Justin went on to explain that he’s optimistic about his chances of making a full recovery in the very near future, and we’re sure he’ll have all the support he needs from wife Hailey Bieber.
Justin assured fans that he’ll be able get his face back “to where it’s supposed to be.”
But in order to that, Bieber said, he’s going to need to step away from the spotlight for a bit and focus on getting well.
“I’m going to get better,” Justin said.
“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. We don’t know how much time it will be but it’s going to be okay,” he continued.
“I have hope and I trust God. I trust that this is all for a reason and I’m not sure what that is right now, but in the meantime I’m going to rest.”
Naturally, an army of Beliebers flooded the comments with well wishes.
Many of those offering words of hope and encouragement were celebrity friends of Bieber’s.
“Love you bro,” Romeo Beckham commented.
“Love u brother! U will be great! Rest up brother. We love u! GOD LOVES U!” DJ Khaled chimed in.
“Love you dude, please take all the time you need!!” Kehlani implored in one of the most-liked comments on Bieber’s post.
We’d like to add our voice to the chorus of those who have already wished Bieber a full and speedy recovery.
Stay strong, Justin — be believe in you!