Patient's question:
I was not aware of what was going on a while ago. After getting up in the morning, my mouth was a bit crooked and my eyes were also slanted. I went for a check-up and it was said that it was Bell's palsy. Do the needles hurt?Doctor's answer:
Acupuncture treatment is a must for facial paralysis. Typically, points such as Hegu, Baihui, Dicang, and Yangbai are selected. During the acupuncture process, patients may feel a sense of soreness, numbness, fullness, heaviness, or pain. In the early stages of facial paralysis, due to insufficient facial nerve nutrition, the facial muscles cannot be activated, and patients may feel numbness with no pain during acupuncture. As the facial nerve recovers completely, acupuncture may cause varying degrees of pain. However, due to individual differences, some people may experience particularly intense pain. For instance, if a facial paralysis patient feels severe pain during acupuncture, it indicates that they will recover quickly.