Savannah Mares-Sedillo didn’t think much of it when part of her tongue felt numb.
A few days later, the actress and model noticed other strange feelings in her face. Her eyes burned, her face twitched, but she still went to work.
“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 was physically demanding, with running and other action. But after finishing, Mares-Sedillo realized half of her face wasn’t working. When she tried to smile, only one side moved.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2):format(webp)/savannah-mares-6-082925-71e12ef927fb499b8c1f2d0df09da951.jpg)
She took a video and sent it to her mom, asking if it was normal. Her mom warned it could be a stroke, which runs in their family. Mares-Sedillo called a medical professional and drove herself to urgent care as her eye seemed to worsen.
At urgent care, the receptionist told her they didn’t take her insurance and said there was “nothing they could do” if it was a stroke. She was advised to go to a nearby emergency room.
When she arrived at the ER, she explained her symptoms. The staff feared she might be having a stroke and immediately started tests.
While a stroke was ruled out, doctors found a double ear infection and suspected Bell’s Palsy.
The condition causes sudden weakness or paralysis on one side of the face and is usually temporary, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is diagnosed through physical examination, though there are no tests to confirm it. The exact cause is unknown but may be linked to facial nerve inflammation, possibly from a viral infection.
Mares-Sedillo worried her face might stay changed. Her doctor reassured her that she was lucky to catch it early, but recovery could take months. Stress might have triggered it, as it can weaken the immune system and increase inflammation.
Her doctor prescribed four medications, including two antibiotics and a strong steroid.
While her acting and modeling career paused, Mares-Sedillo wanted to stay busy and document changes in her face. She turned to TikTok, sharing videos about her condition and connecting with others who have Bell’s Palsy. Some even suggested acupuncture as a treatment.
After her diagnosis, Mares-Sedillo felt alone at first but soon discovered a strong support community on TikTok.
“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,” she 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 TikTok, Mares-Sedillo has tracked her progress. People often comment on how her face is healing. Posting consistently has “kept [her] accountable” and improved her day-to-day mood.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2):format(webp)/savannah-mares-1-082925-ce6998245cb24bd4b6c90316e68b69ef.jpg)
“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,” she shares.
Her biggest lesson 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.
