Effects of acupuncture on peripheral facial paralysis. A comparative study of the combined treatment with stellate ganglion block / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

As the treatment for peripheral facial paralysis, stellate ganglion block (SGB), steroid administration, a sugical operation, vitamine administration and acupuncture are acknowledged. The authors carried out a comparative study of two methods (acupuncture alone vs. the combination of acupuncture and SGB) on 41 cases with Bell's paralysis and 10 cases with Hant's syndrome. Acupuncture treatment, 15 minutes electrical stimulation, was done twice a week using Chinese needles. For the SGB group, SGB was done to the diseased side before each treatment using 5-10ml of 1% xylocaine. The results were rated on the basis of May's score. Marked effectiveness was seen rather more frequent among the fresh cases of the SGB group, but no significant differences were there. The fresh cases showed no significant differences between the two groups. The results confirmed the conviction that acupuncture is one of the effective methods for peripheral facial paralysis.