Justin Bieber on Friday shared the reason he is taking a break from performing, telling his Instagram followers that he has been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
The syndrome “occurs when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near one of your ears,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “In addition to the painful shingles rash, Ramsay Hunt syndrome can cause facial paralysis and hearing loss in the affected ear.”
Shingles, and by extension Ramsay Hunt, are caused by the virus that causes chickenpox. Those who get the syndrome had chickenpox when they were younger.
In his video, Bieber described it as a “virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.”
“As you can see, this eye is not blinking,” he said in the video, pointing to his face. “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.”
A spokesperson for the singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, Bieber, 28, announced he would be postponing a few shows due to an ongoing health issue.
In his Instagram video, he addressed fans who may be “frustrated” by the show cancelations.
“I’m just physically obviously not capable of doing them,” he said. “This is pretty serious as you can see. I wish this wasn’t the case. But obviously my body’s telling me I gotta slow down. I hope you guys understand.”
Bieber said he plans to use the time to rest and relax. He said he’s been doing facial exercises to help get his “face back to normal.”
“I gotta go get my rest on so that I can get my face back to where it’s supposed to be. I love you guys, thanks for being patient with me. I’m gonna get better.”
This is not the singer’s first health scare. In February, Bieber tested positive for the coronavirus. His wife, Hailey Bieber, also recently opened up about a health scare she had in March involving a small blood clot in her brain.