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Smiling with facial weakness
Some forms of muscular dystrophy affect the ability to smile. My form of MD, Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSH, FSHD), affects the facial muscles. It’s hard to smile or get much strength in the mouth, which is why people with the disease have trouble with straws and whistling.
There are not enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I have been told to “smile”. Now a days it is literally frowned upon to tell a woman (or anyone) to smile due to the fact that telling people what to do is not cool, you don’t know what they are going through in that moment or maybe they physically can not. I can clearly remember my best friends wedding day, we were gathered for pictures, I felt beautiful in my bridesmaids gown and make up. The camera man kept singling me out, literally yelling at me to smile. The bride finally asked him to stop and later in the evening I explained to him that I had a muscle disease that affected my face.
If you have difficulty smiling, how have you felt when someone tells you to smile? How do you handle the situation? Is it something that stays with you after the fact?
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