California Artist Seeks Relief from Debilitating Facial Condition from Rutgers Doctors
Plagued with a facial twitch, Becky Robbins ventured east to seek help from a dentist and neurosurgeon
In 2021, Becky Robbins began to experience twitching on the left side of her face. At first, she first thought it was temporary, but the condition returned a few months later.
And then again. And again.
“I just didn't know what in the world was happening to me,” said Robbins, a self-taught artist, mentor and a former nurse living in San Diego, California who used to be married to motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
She went to see a neurosurgeon in San Diego.
“He was not with me more than five minutes and told me I needed brain surgery,” Robbins said. “I’m a pretty strong person, but I walked out, sat down on the bench outside, and just cried because it was so shocking that I needed brain surgery.”
She then went to a second doctor, who told her all the possible side effects of the surgery, “which made it sound so like you would only do this if this were an emergency.”
As her symptoms continued to become more severe, Robbins sought a remedy.
“It was getting so bad that I couldn’t smile on my left side, and I looked like I had a stroke,” she said. “And the most amazing thing happened.”
Robbins said she happened to tune into a podcast on Instagram, where she first heard the voice of a Rutgers doctor, Gary Heir, who led to her to the help she needed.
Heir is the Robert and Susan Carmel Chair in Algesiology and director of the Center for Temporomandibular Disorders and Orofacial Pain at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, which focuses on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of complex chronic pain and dysfunction disorders affecting the jaw, head neck and face. The center provides one of 15 orofacial pain postgraduate programs in the United States.
Within two days, she scheduled an appointment with Heir and flew to New Jersey in March 2024.
“I’ve never been seen by anyone who took so much time with me and was so kind and committed to finding a solution,” said Robbins, adding that Heir asked “a million questions,” trying to piece together her case.
Imagine what that feels like to be so vulnerable flying to the other side of the country because that’s the only choice you feel like you have left, and then getting to see Dr. [Gary] Heir.
Becky Robbins
“Imagine what that feels like to be so vulnerable flying to the other side of the country because that’s the only choice you feel like you have left, and then getting to see Dr. Heir,” she said. “I mean, I could cry right now talking about it just because for him to be so compassionate. I was just a stranger.”
After assessing Robbins, Heir suspected hemifacial spasm, a rare condition, where a part of the face muscles show uncontrollable movement like twitching, often caused by a blood vessel along the brainstem coming into contact with the nerve responsible for controlling facial expressions, known as the seventh cranial nerve. He immediately reached out to his colleague Stephen Johnson, a neurosurgeon at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
“Frequently, patients with complicated chronic orofacial pain and movement disorders such as Becky are often at a loss as to where to go for help,” said Heir, who stressed the importance of the multidisciplinary approach used in her case and the ability to call on caring physicians such as Johnson.
With Johnson’s direction, they ordered an MRI. Robbins met with Johnson the next day.
“I was fraught,” she said. “I didn’t know what in the world was wrong with me and what was going to happen, and he showed me what was going on.”
Johnson confirmed the diagnosis: Robbins had a vascular contact of a cranial nerve responsible for her facial muscles of expression.
“With every beat of my heart, the blood vessel was pushing on the nerve and damaging it,” she said.
Johnson recommended surgery as the only solution to permanently fix the issue. The procedure would be risky, he said, adding that he would do his best and gave her his cell phone number for her to think over.
“When you're facing brain surgery, it's not a light decision to make,” she said. “I could text him day and night, ask him any questions, and he would get right back to me. He's just amazing.”
Robbins tried Botox injections, which initially helped, but stopped working soon after.
When you're facing brain surgery, it's not a light decision to make. I could text him day and night, ask him any questions, and he would get right back to me. He's just amazing.
Becky Robbins
speaking about Stephen Johnson a neurosurgeon at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
She was in the middle of developing her own television show, The Art of Art. Her facial twitching became so severe that she was forced to stop filming, wait it out and restart.
In October 2024, “I finally texted him and said ‘I need to talk to you. It’s time.’”
Johnson devised a timeline for her surgery while Robbins got her affairs in order. She headed back to New Jersey and Johnson performed a vascular decompression of the nerve.
Heir said Robbins’ symptoms “resolved rapidly” following the surgery, “and she remains symptom-free for one year.”
“I’m so glad I’m on the other side of it,” Robbins said.
