Scientific Proof to How your Body react to Acupuncture - Bell's Palsy

Acupuncture can treat Bell’s Palsy effectively at any stage of the condition, especially at the early onset stage and sequelae.

Acupuncture can treat Bell’s Palsy effectively at any stage of the condition, especially at the early onset stage and sequelae.

Bell’s palsy is an acute peripheral facial neuropathy, which is one of the most common causes of facial palsy of lower motor neurons. Bell’s palsy is defined as an acute unilateral facial nerve palsy or paralysis, with an onset time of less than 72h, and has unknown etiology. It accounts for 50% of all facial nerve paralysis cases.

The etiology of Bell’s facial palsy remains unclear. The only confirmed finding is that the inflammation and edema of the facial nerve in the narrow styloid foramen can lead to the compression of the facial nerve canal.

Acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of Bell’s palsy and has achieved satisfactory results to date. Several clinical and laboratory studies have found that acupuncture can effectively promote the recovery of facial nerve injury, effectively shorten the course of the disease, and reduce various complications.

“Clinical Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Traditional Chinese Internal Medicine” and other guidelines made a Grade A recommendation that acupuncture should be involved in the treatment of facial palsy as soon as possible, and the patients with mild or severe facial palsy may be treated with any one of acupuncture, western drugs, or acupuncture combined with drugs.

Below are the scientific proofs to using acupuncture for Bell’s Palsy:

Conclusion: There are positive evidences suggesting the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment on Bell’s palsy sequelae. The essential element in treatment for patients with Bell’s palsy is to establish facial symmetry. The electrophysiological and grading scale results show that acupuncture is effective in the treatment of Bell’s palsy sequelae.

Acupuncture can be used in the treatment of Bell’s palsy, concerning how much is still unknown in terms of both etiology and treatment. Acupuncture treatment may be regarded as an effective and safe method, particularly in the treatment of patients with persisting Bell’s palsy sequelae and can have a positive effect on healing in patients with such sequelae.

Conclusion: Studies suggest that acupuncture may help alleviate symptoms, promote nerve regeneration, and improve functional outcomes when combined with standard medical treatments. Furthermore, acupuncture is generally well tolerated and devoid of serious adverse effects, making it a potentially valuable intervention in emergency settings. Current evidence suggests that it holds promise as a non-invasive and cost-effective adjunctive therapy in emergency care.

Conclusion: Manipulative acupuncture had signiﬁcantly improved the facial nerve function and recovery rate at 8 weeks of treatment and at 6 months following the onset of the palsy. Moreover, this study also conﬁrmed the hypothesis that the blood supply might play a critical role in the prognosis of facial palsy. Acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of facial paralysis in China and has shown remarkable eﬃcacy.