Bell's palsy is a form of temporary facial paralysis resulting from damage or trauma to one of the two facial nerves. It is the most common cause of facial paralysis. As you may already learn from your medical doctors, there is no cure or standard course of treatment for Bell's palsy right now from their perspectives.  However, you may not know that acupuncture has been the major treatment for Bell's palsy for several centuries in many Asian countries, like China, Japan, and Taiwan.

What acupuncturists say,

According to ancient and time-tested theories of Oriental Medicine, our body is not merely a combination of mechanical and chemical parts, but an energetic, integrated system. Our health depends on keeping all our systems and elements in balance, including our vital energy. The vital energy on which acupuncture principles are based is called Qi(pronounced "chee"). Qi circulates in the body along channels called meridians.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, Bell's palsy is categorized as a symptom of External Wind Stroke, which is caused by Wind invasion due to emptiness of  Qi in the Channels (or meridians) inside the affected part of the face.  In TCM theory, there are 14 channels going through our bodies, and we are healthy when Qi circulates smoothly in the channels. Had there any blockage,  or outside invasion (like extreme cold weathers or virus) to interrupt the balance of the flow, we will feel uncomfortable or be ill. Bell's palsy is mostly due to the problem inside the "Yangming" Channel (click the picture to see the channel in red). Acupuncture, by inserting the needles into specific points, is to clear all the blockages in this channel and restore the balance flow of Qi , the key element to recover all normal facial functions.  In the English context, the efficacy of acupuncture towards Bell's palsy is widely studied, and this study may shed some light of our current research on it.  

A Testimonial for Acupuncture to Bell's:

"I woke up 1/5, two weeks ago with full blown BP on my right side. I went to the E.R., two days later my family doc and my eye doc. Was on prednisone, anti virals and pain med. Then I went to my acupuncturist for two treatments every week. I had not seen her in a couple of years, since my back injury. If you go to one, make sure you ask if they have had experience treating this. She has had many clients with it. Its been just two weeks now, and I have 75% improvement in my eye, and my smile, I would say 50%. The pain has pretty much gone away. I strongly recommend people consider it.  She spends 1 to two hours with me, my doc spends 5 min. with me. So anyway, just wanted you all to know, I believe you should investigate it if you have not had luck with your Western Docs. I was very upset, as you can see from prior post, and she helping me so much. All my best to you all. Juliet "