I got an idea for one of my characters and I was hoping if anyone who understands this stuff can help me out? * The right part of his nose is twisted and disfigured, it blocks his nostril where as the left hand side is normal. * He is missing the bridge of his nose, so wouldnt his eyes appear sullen and mishapen? (I met a guy similar but I'm unsure tbh) * his beard is all patchy and the right hand side of his hair is receding. * right ear twisted, so it appears closed up. Is this realistic? If not can anyone help me out?
Look up pictures of real deformed people. Joseph Merrick (Elephant Man), the Mule Lady, etc. I once read a story about a boy in the 1800s who was born with an extra head on top of his own, but upside down. Deformities are when the body goofs ups during pre-natal development. Yes, it'd be realistic for someone to look like this man you have described.
Hi, It sounds like the guy you're trying to describe has a deformity across one side of his face. This can be achieved in a number of ways. At the simplest level where it's just muscles not working, conditions like strokes and Bell's Palsy can achieve this end. But if you want actual physical changes you're looking at a birth defect. An uncommon form of birth defect which could cause a strange mixture of physical defects potentially on one side of the body, is the genetic mosaic where a person is born with their own genes and also mixed in with some tissue from an unborn sibling. There are also a lot of chemicals (teratogens) which can cause birth defects. Many of them have distinct physical effects upon an unborn child, eg alcohol causing the condition fetal alcohol syndrome. These however, are not usually laterally varied. I'd suggest some googling. Cheers, Greg.
Hi, It sounds like the guy you're trying to describe has a deformity across one side of his face. This can be achieved in a number of ways. At the simplest level where it's just muscles not working, conditions like strokes and Bell's Palsy can achieve this end. But if you want actual physical changes you're looking at a birth defect. An uncommon form of birth defect which could cause a strange mixture of physical defects potentially on one side of the body, is the genetic mosaic where a person is born with their own genes and also mixed in with some tissue from an unborn sibling. There are also a lot of chemicals (teratogens) which can cause birth defects. Many of them have distinct physical effects upon an unborn child, eg alcohol causing the condition fetal alcohol syndrome. These however, are not usually laterally varied. I'd suggest some googling. Cheers, Greg.
Parasitic twins, scars from fire would certainly explain patchy hair, elephantiasis, lymphedema, childhood malnutrition. All can alter or contribute to physical deformities. - Darkkin
Thanks, Greg. Hm that's interesting, so half his body will be defective also? Such as dodgy fingers and dodgy toes? Thanks a lot for your help. And thanks Darkkin also, I'll be sure to google those conditions before inputting them into my book.
A really bad car accident can cause facial breaks and bone breaks to cause deformities like that as well. The scarring from the facial damage would cause hair not to grow.
In an 18th century setting, it could very well be accidental. No cars, sure, but he could've been run over by a carriage, crushed by a falling object (eg if he had a job involving heavy stuff up high, such as unloading ships as a dock worker). Could also be a birth defect. Hemifacial microsoma sounds kind of like what you're looking for.
