Bell's Palsy

Bell's palsy is a facial paralysis caused by an irritation of cranial nerve VII (seven) with no apparent cause. Cranial nerve VII controls most facial muscles connected with eye, mouth and jaw making difficulty blinking or closing the eye. The nerve also controls the function of certain salivary glands and tear glands.

In my opinion, Bell’s palsy is a minor form of stroke. It is usually weakness on only one side like a stroke. Trigeminal nerve is involved for this cause. Nerve tension between left and right sides is supposed to be equal; however one side’s nerve is stronger than the other, pulling to one side and making this symptom.

Causes of Bell's palsy

The cause of the nerve irritation associated with Bell’s palsy is unknown. Exposure to cold is a frequently cited cause – for example, driving with a car window open in cold weather, sleeping with the window open or A/C on during night, or after sleeping on the rock at camps.

Treatment of Bell's palsy

There are 3 ways to treat this cause.

Patient uses ai-ye (folium artemisiae argyi) and sea salt in the home. All details are instructed during treatment.
Practitioner diagnoses a patient to try to find which nerve causes problems. We found trigeminal nerves and facial nerves involved most of time. Some patients feel less stiffness on the face from the first acupuncture treatment session and some after 3 or more sessions depending on seriousness.
We also offer an herb formula that helps this symptom. There are many well known formulas in oriental medicines, as this kind of symptom also has happened in the past.

Treatment example for Bell's Palsy

Bell’s Palsy for 1 1/2 month

It was very hot on August 2, 2008. She slept while the air conditioner was on all night. When she woke up in the morning, she felt some numbness on the face. She looked at the mirror. Her right face was paralyzed. She had a difficulty to open and close her eye on the right side. When she smiles, her mouth deviates to left side. Her extremities look OK. There was no different feeling than before. The only problem was on her right side of the face.

She went to her M.D. The doctor told her to massage her face without any prescription. She tried, but had no good result at all.

She stopped going to work since having this symptom. Her husband also couldn’t go to work as his wife was struggling. According to the husband, his wife looked at the mirror all day. All these things made this family desperate at this moment.

Clinical examination

She is 50 years old.
She usually feels warm.
She sweats at night these days.
She doesn’t have any pain. She had a headache right after bells palsy.
She doesn’t have any dizziness.
Her hearing is normal.
Her eyes are itchy and tear a lot.
She is not thirsty and drinks room temperature water.
She sleeps about 7 hours and 30 minutes a day.
Her appetite is poor and digestion is poor, too.
She wakes up 3 times at night.
She has constipation and goes to bowel movement once or twice a day.
She still has menstruation in every 25-28 days regularly and lasts 2.5 days. The amount is scanty. The color is dark red. There are no blood clots. There is no pain at all before, during or after menstruation. She never got pregnant, but one time abortion. She never used birth control pills.
Her life style is a little stressful and she becomes easily angry.

Pattern identification: Bell’s palsy due to Liver yang rising
Treatment principle: Extinguish Liver yang

After 5 sessions of acupuncture, she completely recovered.

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