Bell’s palsy is a neurological disorder that manifests as a paralysis of the face. This disorder often affects only one side of the face.

Bell’s palsy is thought to be a result of damage to the facial nerve that controls the muscles on one side of the face, which then causes those muscles to droop.

The facial nerve damage that affects the facial muscles can also impact a person’s taste, saliva, or ability to cry. Bell’s palsy is most common in young adults, the elderly, diabetics, and pregnant women, but it can affect anyone.

This condition is often a shock, as it comes on overnight. The majority of patients wake with the facial muscles in paralysis. Most patients either have no symptoms beforehand, or they miss the warning signs, which are subtle and can include neck pain, pain behind the ear, or pain in the back of the head.

People with Bell’s Palsy can experience difficulty with multiple facial functions including closing their eyes, eating, smiling, and their speech can also become slurred. Often, people jump to the conclusion that a stroke has occurred, but thankfully, Bell’s Palsy is not the result of a stroke, and is also a temporary affliction. While the condition comes on suddenly, it usually passes or gets better on its own within time.

Because the facial nerve has so many functions, damage to the nerve or a disruption in its function can lead to many symptoms, which vary from person to person and range in severity from mild weakness to total paralysis.

They may include twitching, weakness, or paralysis on one or both sides of the face, drooping of the eyelid and corner of the mouth, drooling, dryness of the eye or mouth, impairment of taste, and excessive tearing in one eye.

Other symptoms may include pain or discomfort around the jaw and behind the ear, ringing in one or both ears, headache, loss of taste, hypersensitivity to sound on the affected side, impaired speech, dizziness, and difficulty eating or drinking.

What Causes Bell’s Palsy?

Most scientists believe that a viral infection such as viral meningitis or the common cold sore virus – herpes simplex – causes the disorder. They believe that the facial nerve swells and becomes inflamed in reaction to the infection, causing pressure within the Fallopian canal and leading to an infarction (the death of nerve cells due to insufficient blood and oxygen supply).

In some mild cases, there is damage only to the myelin sheath of the nerve, or the fatty covering-which acts as an insulator-on nerve fibers in the brain.

The disorder has also been associated with influenza or a flu-like illness, headaches, chronic middle ear infection, high blood pressure, diabetes, sarcoidosis, tumours, Lyme disease, and trauma such as skull fracture or facial injury.

Western Medicine’s Approach to Bell’s Palsy

There is no cure or standard course of treatment for Bell’s palsy. The most important factor in treatment is to eliminate the source of the nerve damage.

The condition affects each individual differently. Some cases are mild and symptoms usually subside on their own within 2 weeks. For others, treatment may include pharmaceutical medications and other therapeutic options.

Steroids are often used as a treatment for Bell’s palsy. An antiviral drug such as acyclovir combined with an anti-inflammatory drug such as the steroid prednisone may be prescribed in order to reduce damage to the nerve.

Analgesics may be given relieve pain.

Treating Bell’s Palsy with Chinese Medicine

In China, acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to assist in Bell’s Palsy recovery. Many studies have been done in China which shows that acupuncture is extremely effective in treating Bell’s palsy when it is used promptly.

Complete recovery can take place in one or two weeks. Consistent acupuncture treatments (usually recommended once or twice per week), can help soothe a patient, expedite the paralysis from dissipating, and enhance nerve function. Some people recover spontaneously, although this can take from a few weeks to a year.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, acupuncture is seen as the main treatment for Bell’s Palsy. Using acupuncture points on the affected side of the face, neck, and head as well as other parts of the body allows the Qi to be spread through the meridians to decrease the healing time and prevent any residual dysfunction of facial muscles. Herbal formulas specifically designed for this condition can also be prescribed to effect healing from the inside out.

These herbal remedies may be used not only to offer a therapeutic effect but to promote effective functioning of the nervous system and prevent stress (which is thought to exacerbate Bell’s palsy).

Massage can also help ease the symptoms of Bell’s palsy. Gently massaging the affected areas of the face or practicing daily facial exercises can help the condition.

Additionally, a full body massage on areas that are unaffected by the condition can help. Stress can worsen the condition, and is often thought to be a precipitating factor that may bring on an episode, so receiving a relaxing, full body massage can help soothe a patient and lead to a quicker recovery.

Some patients with Bell’s palsy may want to take several weeks of recovery time in which they may choose to stay at home and take some time off from their normally rigorous daily routines.

At our clinic we offer several options ranging from

• herbal remedies
• laser treatment
• acupuncture
• supplements

All of these treatment options are tailored to fit the patient’s individual constitution, needs, lifestyle, health history, current condition and more.

For more information please call Karen on 011 4330066.