It is caused by the same virus as chicken-pox. In addition to the painful rash of shingles, Ramsay Hunt syndrome can cause facial paralysis and hearing loss in the affected ear.

“After the chickenpox is gone, the virus is still alive in the… nerves. Years later, it can be reactivated,” he adds.

The main symptoms are a painful red rash with fluid-filled blisters in and around the ear, and facial weakness or paralysis on the same side of the affected ear, the Mayo Clinic describes.

The patient may have earache, hearing loss or ringing in the ears (tinnitus), difficulty closing one eye, dizziness, changes in taste perception or loss of taste, and dry mouth and eyes.

Symptoms are usually temporary in most cases, but can become permanent.

Patients’ inability to close an eyelid can also lead to: eye pain and blurred vision, the organization says, adding that it’s more common in people over 60.

The sickness it is about with antivirals, corticosteroids and painkillers.

Earlier this week, the singer’s team announced that it would postpone three shows of the world tour. Justicewhich started in February.

He asked his fans to go patients and assured that he is physically unable to do his next shows.

“This is pretty serious, as you can see. I wish it wasn’t, but obviously my body is telling me to slow down,” he added.

“I hope you understand it. I will use this time to rest and relax and get back to 100 percent so I can do what I was born to do.”

Bieber added that he is doing facial exercises to “get back to normal”, but he doesn’t know how long it will take to recover.

He was set to play in Washington and Toronto earlier this week, with concerts also scheduled in New York and Los Angeles in the coming days.

Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss our best content.