Imagine that you are getting ready to go to work and are feeling totally fine one minute, and then suddenly realizing that half of your face feels a cold, numbling sensation, like you've just been to the dentist and had your mouth frozen with the anaesthesia. Bythe time you look in the mirror,the affected side is totally paralyzed and your normally smilling face now has one corner that droops down. One of your eyes has a swollen eyelid that can no longer feel it , and the numbling sensation is starting to radiate to the other side of your face. For most people with Bell's palsy, the effects can be severely disfiguring and can cause great anxiety. Often the first thing that people think of is that they've had a stroke.

      Bell's palsy is a peripheral facial paralysis that results from damage to the seventh cranial nerve, or "facial nerve." Due to paralysis of 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, distortion of taste and tingling around the lip area.Bell's affects appoximately 40,000 people in the United States each year. Persons who tend to be most at risk are pregnant women, and persons afficted with the flu virus, cold, respiratory illness, or diabeted. Some patients have reported having severe ear,nose, mouth or gum infections and headaches prior to developing Bell's Palsy.

      The treatment prnciple used in patienents were to use a few distal and several local acupuncture points to eliminate wind, regulate qi and blood in the shaoyang and yangming channels in order to remove obstruction and restore facial nerve function. After four treatment within a one-week period,the patient's facial muscles and facial nerve function were fully restored. Wheile some cased of Bell's palsy will spontaneously resolve within a few weeks, this is likely due to the severity of the attack.In most Bell's palsy cased howere, the patients has a deficient immune system that prevents them from effectively combating the illness and subsequently, the condition may linger or even return. Since acupuncture can help to move the blood circulation and energy to the affected site to help restore function, and also has immune enhancing effects, it is a welcome addition to the treatment of perpheral facial paralysis that can increase the potential for a faster and complete recovery. To prevent future recurrences of the disease, it is also necessary to eliminate any possible factors that can tx the immune system, and maintain a healthy lifestyle involving proper rest, moderate exercise, a balance, nutritious diet(lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumeds, fish, and reduced portions of red meat, poultry and dairy), and creative outlets for relieving stress.

      So best time to have a treatment is right after you found out something different for your face.The eariler you come , the sooner you will get a recovery. Here is a patient she gets recvery very well just one week. She did a right thing that came to see Dr right on time.

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