• Nguyen A
• Rose K
• Hwang S

• Acupuncture
• Adult
• Bell Palsy
• Bell Palsy / therapy
• Diversified Technique
• Male
• Open Access Document

Introduction: This paper reports on a 53-year-old male who presented with sequelae from a case of Bell’s palsy two years prior. He was treated with a combination of chiropractic and acupuncture therapies.

Case Presentation: The patient’s prescribed medication relieved most of his symptoms but at presentation he still experienced occasional slight twitching of the right eye, focal numbness with occasional twitching of the right cheek, difficulty holding water in his mouth while drinking and occasional dripping of saliva. The chiropractic diagnosis was Bell’s palsy, myofascial pain syndrome and vertebral intersegmental dysfunction at the C0-C1 level. His acupuncture diagnosis was Wind Phlegm syndrome.

Interventions and Outcomes: Chiropractic treatment consisted of adjustments to the occiput-C1 level, Myofascial Release Technique and home facial exercises. Acupuncture treatment consisted only of needling. The patient responded rapidly to therapy and was almost symptom-free after three months.

Discussion: Most patients recover spontaneously from Bell’s palsy, but in some patients residual symptoms remain that do not respond to conventional medical therapy. This patient’s symptoms were greatly improved following an integrated therapy approach that included chiropractic and acupuncture treatment. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this approach.

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