How Serious is Facial Paralysis? Chiropractic Found Effective For Bell's Palsy

    NEW YORK, NY, August 19, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The condition called is Bell's palsy, which results in facial paralysis. It is a form of facial paralysis that results from trauma or damaged facial nerves.

"The most commonly affected muscles are closure of the eye and half the smile so the patient is unable to close their eye or smile on half their face," said Dr. Eric Chun-Pu Chu, chairman of the Chiropractic Doctors Association of Hong Kong (CDAHK). "They end up looking like someone with a crooked face."

A facial nerve, called the 7th cranial nerve, travels through a narrow, bony canal in the skull. The nerve controls sensation and helps move tiny muscles in the face.

The standard treatment for Bell's palsy is conservative therapy to minimize the duration of the facial paralysis, but steroids and antiviral medication can also be done to control the facial paralysis. Some patients help manage muscle control through facial exercises like "eyebrow pushups."

Jolie told the media that she credited conservative therapy with helping her recover."There have been many research cases showed acupuncture and chiropractic may help," Chu said.

Most of the recent studies identified chiropractic to be beneficial with shoulder pain (1), back pain (2), and neck pain (3). The Hong Kong case study (4), published in on August 16, examined the incidence of Bell's palsy and facial in people receiving multimodal chiropractic therapy. The study reviewed 12 studies and identified 85% of these patients also had pain in the face or neck. They illustrated improvement of Bell's palsy and concurrent trigeminal neuropathy with multimodal chiropractic care including spinal manipulation.

"For patients who have symptoms months to years after initial onset, there are other more invasive options including chiropractic multimodel therapy to help fix the appearance of drooping," Chu said

Reference:
1. Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) in 16 Patients Following COVID-19 Vaccination Who Presented to Chiropractic, Orthopedic, and Physiotherapy Clinics in Hong Kong During 2021. Med Sci Monit. 2022 Jul 11;28:e937430.
2. Reducing Cervical Retrolisthesis With Long-Term Monthly Chiropractic Maintenance Care: A Case Report. J Med Cases. 2022 Jul;13(7):359-364.
3. Effectiveness of Multimodal Chiropractic Care Featuring Spinal Manipulation for Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Following Lumbar Spine Surgery: Retrospective Chart Review of 31 Adults in Hong Kong. Med Sci Monit. 2022 Aug 2;28:e937640.
4. Concurrent Bell's Palsy and Facial Pain Improvingwith Multimodal Chiropractic Therapy: A Case Report and Literature Review. Am J Case Rep. 2022 Aug 7;23:e937511.

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