Details Of What Led To Hailey Bieber's Mini Stroke Revealed

Model Hailey Bieber recently took to YouTube to explain the details of her mini stroke, which occurred on March 10, when Bieber, 25, was having breakfast with her husband, Justin. She explained that she began to experience what she correctly recognized as stroke-like symptoms that included an inability to speak, one side of her face drooping, and tingling in her arm and fingers. Describing what was the scariest moment of her life, she told her fans that she was afraid that she would suffer some kind of permanent damage.

Once at the hospital, doctors told Bieber that she had suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a type of mini stroke in which a blood clot temporarily blocks the flow of blood to the brain. The Mayo Clinic reports that the blockage lasts a short time and doesn't generally result in permanent damage. Bieber recovered after a short while but underwent tests to determine a cause for the clot.

Bieber explained that she underwent several tests, including a bubble echo, which allows doctors to examine how blood flows through the heart (via YouTube). They discovered she had a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which, simply put, is a hole between the left and right chambers of the heart. She said that she recently underwent a procedure to close the hole and that she was recovering well. She added that she was also taking a blood thinner and aspirin every day as preventive treatments.

The doctors told the model that three factors led to a "perfect storm," causing the clot to form. The first being that she had just recently started taking birth control pills, but she may not have been aware that this form of birth control has been linked to higher stroke risks (via Verywell Health). The second reason was that she had recently been infected with COVID-19, and the last factor was that she had recently been on a long flight from Paris, on which she slept the entire and without compression socks to help with blood circulation. Bieber explained that while it was hard for her to tell her story, she felt that it was important to share her experience since the incident was already public.