What is Bell’s Palsy? How does Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine help Bell’s Palsy?
What can we do to help the recovery?
When is the most important time phase for the Bell’s Palsy recovery?
Here are the answers:
Welcome to B&Q Acupuncture channel. We are the Traditional Chinese medicine doctors. I’m Benny Yang. I’m Queenie Wu.
Today we would like to talk about Bell’s Palsy, which is commonly helped with acupuncture treatment in China. However, we just figure out patients suffering Bell’s Palsy in Australia seldom know acupuncture could improve the recovery process and prevent the sequelae of it.
Exactly. I still remember years ago when I was working at the acupuncture department in the TCM hospital, during winter, at least 3-5 new patients in a week suffering Bell’s Palsy.
What is Bell’s Palsy
Bell’s Palsy is a condition where one side of the facial muscles become weak and paralysed. It can occur when the nerve that controls your facial muscles becomes inflamed, swollen, or compressed. Apart from sudden one-sided facial paralysis, the patient may loss the ability to close the eyelid, smile or show facial expressions on that side.
From Traditional Chinese Medicine aspect, Bell’s Palsy is caused by a deficiency what we call Wei Qi, the protective Qi and also an invasion of ‘wind-cold’ or ‘wind heat’, which means the circulation of Qi and blood in the certain meridians on the face are blocked, resulting in a loss of feeling and muscular movement.
Bell’s palsy is not considered permanent, but in some cases, it does not disappear. up to 30% will not make a complete recovery untreated.
From TCM, what treatments would involve to help Bell’s Palsy?
Acupuncture is one of the most effective treatments to help Bell’s Palsy in China. Placing tiny needles on certain area of the body to reconnect the channels on the face and get the Qi and blood back in balance. Often Chinese herbal medicine, cupping or electro-acupuncture would be used to strengthen the treatments and improve the facial symptoms.
Some more suggestions to the patients suffering Bell’s Palsy
As we know the main cause of the Bell’s Palsy is the wind invasion and the blockages of facial circulation, it is important to avoid exposing the face to cold wind and regularly use hot pack and massage on the face to remove the cold and stimulate the facial muscles. Especially during the acute phase, say the first two weeks, I would recommend to wear mask and hat while doing outdoor activities.
The importance of the treatment timing
In general, the first 6 months especially the first 2 two months are the most important period for the facial recovery. After 6 months , it would turn to the sequelae phase which is a lot harder to completely recover.
According to our clinical experience, by using acupuncture and other TCM treatments, most of the facial pain and burning discomfort would be settled in the first two to three weeks and the major facial functions could recover progressively during the first two months.
Thanks for your time to finish this video and hopefully this would help you to know: go and try acupuncture to accelerate the Bell’s Palsy recovery. If you have any question, please feel free to call us or send us an email to discuss. Also if you would like to know more about Chinese medicine and acupuncture, please visit our website: bqacupuncture.com.au
If B&Q Acupuncture is something you want to try, get a feel for us by looking at our google reviews or on our website. To make an appointment, visit our site or call us on 61115027. We service folk all over Perth and Western Australia but most conveniently Subiaco, Wembley, Leederville, Jolimont, Shenton Park, Perth city, Osborne Park, North Perth, Nedlands and Vic Park.