Is This Viral Skincare Device Causing Partial Facial Paralysis? And Are You Winning $221 of Cardon Products?

Hullo from Osaka! This past week took us from Okinawa’s cherry-blossoming isles to Nara’s deer-dotted parks, and tomorrow we’re cozying up for a week in Kyoto. (That’s far too long for Kyoto, in case you’re ever planning a trip this way; it’s work stuff keeping us in town.)

Wellness highlights from this past week include a stay at Nara’s Shisui Hotel where I got some a lymph massage, circulation-boosting sound therapy, and soaked away my nasal congestion in an in-room onsen. Their spa focuses on eastern remedies; I had to fill out this form about all my various ailments, aches, bloats, etc., and they determine if your issues center on your water, blood, or qi (chi). And for me, it was my blood—poor circulation, they suspect. That will be a priority for me to explore. Maybe I should switch from topical to oral minoxodil?

We’ve got a few big videos coming up, so this week I’m diving into some social media hooplah: the claims that a buzzy Korean skincare device can cause Bell’s palsy (temporary and partial facial paralysis). Yikes! Scroll down and sit tight.

Cardon Full-Suite Giveaway ($221 Value): Final Chance to Win

It’s your second and final chance to enter the newsletter giveaway we’re doing with an all-time fav skincare brand, Cardon. Three people will win $221 worth of Cardon products (their entire assortment), essentially an entire regimen, including the Blue Ribbon-winning Purifying Clay Cleanser and elegantly light SPF30 daily moisturizer.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Answer the prompt by Jan 31 to enter. 1 entry per subscriber. Must be 18+ in lower 48 US / DC. Full terms.

Wahl Professional Launches New Peanut Cordless Trimmer—And Ditches a Classic Design

Wahl just gave a facelift to its beloved and legacy clipper, the petite ‘n portable cordless Wahl Peanut. This new one is lithium-ion powered; it’s called Wahl Peanut Cordless Li.

The Peanut Cordless Li promises 110 minutes of battery life (via USB-C, 5V or Wahl charging stations). The old one used rechargeable/removable NiMH batteries and only lasted an hour. The Li is obviously an upgrade, and only $10 more than the dated model ($100 for new, $90 for classic). That said…

I’ll miss that old design. (Happy to say I have the corded version for nostalgia’s sake.) Admittedly, these old ones are also quite uggo, but… dare I say, they were iconic? This new garish baby blue and yellow… I’ll hope for some new skins in the future. At least it stands out, which is what often endeared me to the original Peanut body.

I’ll get mine in spring when I’m back home and situated. So if you’re a barber or an DIY hair cutter, let me know if you try it out. I suspect you’ll be happy with its performance, because it is Wahl, after all.

Social Media in Panic: Does This Buzzy Medicube Device Cause Bell’s Palsy?

Woof. Where to begin?

So, there’s this best-selling facial device from Medicube (links: Amazon / Stylevana)—a Korean skincare brand I just met with in Seoul a couple weeks back, and which I raved about in my K-Grooming video for their roster of innovative products.

As for this particular device, it uses micro-currents to treat and prep the skin in 4 key ways, as outlined below from their own materials:

The brand is extremely popular across social media, not just for this device but other weirdo products like their exfoliating exosome serum—which uses “microneedle” spicules that stick in your skin for a couple days to improve ingredient absorption of other ingredients. (Seriously, don’t rub it near your eyes.) My favorites are the Vitamin C capsule balm and the overnight collagen wrapping mask which I did a short video about too. There’s a lot to buzz about. But perhaps none have been as buzzy as that wand itself.

Especially this week, when a TikTok user claims that just two uses of the device led to her developing Bell’s palsy paralyzation in half of her face (which will take weeks to months to heal as that blocked cranial nerve in her face lights up again).

@itsmemien

#fyp Obviously this is a really emotional moment for me and it’s been something I have been hiding for a bit because of fear and because ... See more

When something like this occurs, we beauty and grooming writers are often grilled by friends: “Is that true, what they’re saying?”

Now, I know y’all Blue Princes know how to Google—and that you don’t trust anything you see on social media without cross checking it. So let’s “do our own research” together, to see if we feel any conclusion around the matter. 

I’ll walk you through my version of such a deep dive (sans interviews and such; this is me writing a newsletter same day, not building out a weeks-long assignment). But in case you’re curious how to go about it in the future for yourself, or to see how I arrived at my own personal conclusion for a situation like this. (Spoiler: it’s a gray area, which is often the case—but that gray area allows you to make a choice yet.)

Let’s start by better understanding what causes Bell’s palsy. Here’s a snippet from Mayo Clinic on the matter; let’s always start with key medical facilities / governing bodies when we research:

So, first hunch says: No, the device could not have caused this. (I’m not done yet, and I’m not just gonna simp for a cool brand, I promise.)

Here is Medicube’s very swift response:

Word of that day: Viral. In more ways than one.

There was another post from Medicube, this one a video. In summary: the doctor here is Dr. Shin-jae Woo (who works for Medicube as their head of device R&D). He says that the identified causes of Bell’s palsy are from “various viruses and fungi”, leading to about 40K cases annually in the US. And that clinical devices (ones more powerful than this) are often used to treat damaged nerves—quite the opposite of the claim here. Furthermore, those clinical devices use 35-80 milliampere (mA) of electric current, while the Booster Pro wand uses 7 mA on its lowest setting, and 14 mA on its strongest.

“At such low output levels, it is impossible for the device to cause nerve damage or paralysis,” Woo says. Again, he works for the brand, but he is held to certain medical standards, practices, and published literature in his role. Still, it’s crisis PR, so I say to you: “keep a guard up”.

And what a crisis indeed: A scroll through TikTok with terms like “bells palsy” and “medicube age-r booster pro” have all sounds of hearsay now about the device, many people claiming they will stop use immediately, others saying they’ll never try it now.

So let’s look to some pros with no affiliation to Medicube: I figured most dermos would be skeptical about this device—and the best ones aren’t rushing to endorse it, rightfully. Electric current devices are foreign (for lack of better word) in our at-home skincare landscape. Estheticians seem a little more receptive to it, but I particularly loved this take from esthetician Rosie Maraventano out of Montreal, wherein she says:

“If you have any underlying health issues, especially in the nervous system, you shouldn’t be putting electricity anywhere near your body.” (Including epilepsy, seizures, brain tumors, MS—ditto for people with metal implants on their body, she adds.) “Honestly she probably already had [Bell’s palsy] but it just takes one thing to trigger that.” It’s speculation, but it seems to further shape the narrative of our “DIY research”: the TikTok user might be drawing an accurate line between her Bell’s palsy and the Booster tool, even if it’s more of a dotted and meandering line.

@beautywith.rm

WTF! I feel so bad for her tho😭 #medicube #medicubeboosterpro #facial #aesthetician #nervoussystem #health #medicubebrand #koreanskincare ... See more

One of my favorite digital dermos, the oft-skeptic Dr. Andrea Suarez (@drdrayzday) seemed entertained by the device when she first tried it. However, she warned of the lack of longterm information we have around at-home use of something like this. The video below is from 10 months ago (this tool has been buzzing for a bit!); Suarez believes that it could potentially worsen hyperpigmentation—and that it could retrigger dormant viruses.

Microcurrents can reactivate dormant viruses. Some dermatological clinics won’t perform Morpheus8 (a common face-firming microneedling procedure) on patients with a history of cold sores, while others might recommend you take an anti-herpes med like Valtrex in the days ahead. (Here’s one such clinic, The Pearl Cosmetic and Medical Dermatology in Houston.)

And scroll back up to the screenshot from Mayo Clinic, about the causes of Bell’s palsy—and the very first bullet is: “Cold sores and genital herpes, also known as herpes simplex.”

Come with me further into my research rabbit hole, then: This study from the National Library of Medicine (from 1997, birth year of Spice Girls and Hanson) suggests renaming Bell’s palsy to “herpetic facial paralysis” based on their isolated findings.

BUT, we don’t just trust one study from 28 years ago. A dive into many others (and more recent ones) finds limited evidence that HSV-1 (cold-sore herpes) is present in those patients with Bell’s palsy, and ditto for VZV, which is chickenpox. And the general conclusion (here is one of a few medical references I found stating as much, this one from 2014 like Ariana Grande): The virus HHV6, a rashy herpes virus, was much more commonly found lingering in Bell’s palsy patients.

That would feel more conclusive if not for the fact that about 80-90% of us get HHV-6 in infancy or early childhood, many - studies - report. And at this phase in the DIY research cycle, a new rabbit hole forms; for y’all it’s time to wrap it up. For me it would be time to call some virologists and doctors (namely ENTs and neurologists) and ask the informed questions about microcurrents, Bells palsy, and straight up get their positing on the issues. Again, I’m just writing this newsletter same-day as it’s being delivered to you, and am 14-17 hours ahead of all the doctors I work with regularly, so I’ll spare myself the homework. Besides, I think we’re ready to “make our own decision”.

Hark, A Conclusion (Ish):

As for me: I’d feel comfortable using the device, aside from the risk of reactivating a cold sore; I’ve only ever had one, but that tells me I could possibly reactivate the dormant virus. As for the efficacy of the device, I don’t think it would be this viral and beloved without millions of people getting the promised results, and I’ve heard firsthand from friends about said results.

And while I’m still comfortable endorsing it, I will now do so with the disclaimer: Do not use it if you get cold sores or have metal implants OR any nervous system issues. I’m less inclined to warn someone about the risk of Bell’s palsy, given the low odds and unfair fear mongering there.

Draw your own conclusions, now and in the future with similar hearsay-ings. And stay skeptical of black-and-white claims; it’s your best defense in this game.

Share This Newsletter

If you’ve been enjoying the Blue Print by Adam Hurly newsletter, please forward this newsletter to a friend who might also enjoy it. Or share the subscribe page with them (that link even has all our past newsletters, too).