Doctors dismissed it as an ear infection. Then Laura woke up unable to blink or smile.

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It started just like a cold. Something Laura Smith thought she could sleep off. But then came the ear pain — electric nerve pain that felt like a jolt shooting through her ear.

Laura knew, deep down, something was seriously wrong. But when she looked to doctors for answers, she got the all-too-familiar brush-off. It was misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis. Dismissed.

Until one morning, she looked in the mirror and half her face refused to move.

This wasn't just a bad ear ache. It was a medical emergency Laura had to fight for.

Watch: A doctor explains what Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is. Post continues below.

Between running a business and parenting two boys, Laura had a lot on her plate. But she always considered herself someone who was deeply in touch with her body.

"I had no indicators I was run down," she told Mamamia.

In mid-August, she was struck down by what she thought was a cold. A week later, the searing ear pain followed.

Her local GP diagnosed an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics.

But days passed, and Laura knew something wasn't right.

"I went to eat my toast and my tongue wouldn't move," she recalled. "I thought, 'Wow, something's wrong.'"

Laura noticed her eye blinking slowly and her glands were swollen. Her GP was no help, sending her home with pain meds.

"Within two hours, I had full facial palsy on the right," she said. "I couldn't blink anymore. My eye was sprung open. My whole face wouldn't move. I stared in the mirror, but it did not want to move."

Mentally, Laura drew upon her time as a student paramedic.

"I knew it wasn't a stroke, but I knew something was happening in my brain," she said. "I was definitely freaking out."

Laura . Image: Supplied.

Her first trip to the emergency department resulted in a diagnosis of Bell's Palsy, temporary facial nerve damage.

But Laura felt the diagnosis felt wrong.

"I asked, 'Why have I got it?' — she was not listening," Laura said.

"I was so sick at this point. I didn't have much fight in me."

The next day, as her condition deteriorated further, she took things into her own hands and turned to Dr Google — something she wouldn't usually recommend, but desperation had set in.

It led her to Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS), an inflammation of a facial nerve, caused by a reactivation of the same virus that causes shingles. RHS requires prompt treatment with antivirals within 72 hours and steroids to reduce the risk of long-term damage.

While RHS is rare, it can affect anyone who's had the varicella-zoster virus.

Laura is unable to move half of her face. Image: Supplied.

The following morning, Laura returned to the ED armed with her self-diagnosis.

The doctor gave her antivirals, but for some parts of her body, it was already too late.

"I lost all of my speech," Laura said.

"The first two weeks, I was speaking like I had a stroke. That was pretty scary."

Back at the hospital, doctors still refused to diagnose RHS without the signature shingles rash.

"I kept saying my ear was burning, so maybe I [didn't] have the rash yet but something [was] wrong," Laura recalled.

That night, the first pox appeared in her ear — a terrifying vindication.

"I got into my ENT the next day, they diagnosed me. We'd ticked all the boxes," she said.

Laura's family has been a great support during this time. Image: Supplied.

The diagnosis brought some relief, but Laura is still faced with the unknown. RHS is usually temporary. However, it could be up to 12 months before Laura knows if there's any permanent damage.

She's spent weeks hiding out at home.

"At the start, every morning was like a bad dream," she said.

"You're unveiling that side of your face and trying to move it and nothing moves."

Staring in the mirror, Laura sees a stranger looking back at her.

"It doesn't look like me. It's confronting," she said.

"Friends and neighbours are doing double takes," she explained. "You can't hide an eye that doesn't blink and half a mouth that doesn't move."

While Laura had heard of shingles before, she'd never crossed paths with RHS.

"It's uncommon, but anyone can get it," she said.

She wants others to remember to advocate for themselves.

"Go in with the facts they can't argue against, and keep going back," she said.

"You know in your gut when you're not right… in that moment, you're the most important person in that room. Fight for yourself."

Feature image: Supplied.