Tulisa Contostavlos has openly shared the distressing experience that saw her housebound for seven months after a sudden and shocking inflammation caused her face to "blew up". The ex-N-Dubz singer was merely 24 years old when she was first confronted with this abrupt facial swelling, prompting immediate medical attention.
Physicians speculated that it might be Bell's palsy—a condition leading to facial sagging and possible extra symptoms like taste loss, dryness of mouth, or eye complications. Following initial treatments with steroids and antibiotics, the swelling lessened but a second occurrence struck again, as told by the Mirror.
While speaking on Olivia Attwood's So Wrong It's Right podcast, the 36-year-old cleared the air over previous plastic surgery gossip. Tulisa confirmed having had fillers in the past; however, her recent surgical procedures were a direct response to her ailment.
Describing the startling early signs, she said: "When I was about 24, I had my first Bell's palsy attack. So I was sat at home and I had this massive burst of inflammation."
She further detailed the traumatic health experience: "I was sat at home and had this huge burst of inflammation on my cheek as if I had an abscess or something. I went straight to a doctor and they gave me antibiotics, steroid injections, and they don't know what caused it.", reports Gloucestershire Live.
Despite some initial improvement, the condition worsened leading to further physical changes, as Tulisa revealed, "It went down to a certain extent, I was left with some mild swelling and then my whole face just dropped. I can't move it."
During the harrowing time, Tulisa withdrew from the public eye, adding, "My face remained like that for seven months. I didn't go out and I just hid in the house."
Tulisa has opened up about her distressing ordeal with sudden facial swelling, describing the onset of her condition as "very stressful". In an attempt to correct her facial symmetry, she initially turned to fillers when the swelling showed no signs of receding seven months post-attack.
After a respite of two years without symptoms, she experienced a return of inflammation. "I was like great, what's this now, and it started to get worse," Tulisa said.
"I would have tingling sensations and it was like little ants crawling on my face. I started seeing doctors around the UK."
This journey eventually led her to dissolve all the filler in her face and start again, aligning her face with the new levels of swelling. Surgeons investigating her condition discovered "shadows" on an ultrasound scan, prompting a surgical intervention.
During the surgery, three cysts were found in her face, which had been causing repeated swelling and scarring. Post-operation, Tulisa noticed her face was "less swollen" immediately but noted that more surgeries would be necessary to completely tackle the problem.
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