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Acupuncture Treatment for the Bell's Palsy Patient

Bell's Palsy is a peripheral facial paralysis that results from damage to the facial nerve. Symptoms can include inability to lift or close one eye, difficulty moving facial muscles on one side of the face, eye tearing on the affected side, tingling and numbness, and drooping corner of the mouth.

Approximately 40,000 people in the United States are affected by Bell's Palsy each year. People who tend to be most at risk are pregnant women, and persons afflicted with the flu virus, cold, respiratory illness or diabetes. The exact cause of Bell's Palsy has not been confirmed, it is likely that viruses such as herpes simplex or herpes zoster are responsible for the inflammation of the facial nerve causing facial paralysis. Common Western Medicine treatment involves the use of anti-viral drugs and prednisone.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bell's Palsy is due to pathogenic wind-cold attacking the meridian channels that run in the face as well as tendons and muscles. Often people with Bell's Palsy have a deficient immune system possibly due to unresolved or chronic illness, improper diet, lack of rest, or undue physical and emotional stress. As a result, they are more vulnerable to outside sources of viral and bacterial pathogens. This exposure to external sources causes the immune system to produce an inflammatory response resulting in swelling of the tissues in the affected region. As a result, there is an obstruction of qi (vital energy) and blood in these areas which leads to malnourishment of the tendons and muscles in the facial muscles causing symptoms of numbness, tingling and paralysis.

A deficient immune system in Bell's Palsy patients prevents them from effectively combating the illness and subsequently the condition may linger or never completely recover. Since acupuncture can help stimulate blood circulation and energy to the affected site, as well as enhance the immune system, it is a very effective treatment of peripheral facial paralysis. The sooner the Bell's Palsy patient undergoes an acupuncture treatment, the sooner and more complete the recovery.

Acupuncture by Lil Bush, located in the Denver Tech Center, specializes in treating Bell's Palsy.