• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.49-62
• /
• 2024

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to report on the good results achieved through Korean and western medicine treatment on patients with idiopathic bilateral facial nerve palsy. Methods : We treated a female patient with idiopathic bilateral facial nerve palsy by Korean medicine treatment such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, cupping therapy, and taping therapy. The patient also received western medicine treatment. The treatment effect was evaluated by visual observation through photography, House-Brackmann scale, Yanagihara's scale, standardization of muscular paralysis, and clinical symptoms. Results : After the treatment, muscle movements and clinical symptoms improved, and all facial palsy evaluation indicators also showed improvement. In particular, the House-Brackmann-scale showed improvement from (3/4) to (1/2). Conclusions : This case study shows that Korean-western medicine combination treatment for idiopathic bilateral facial nerve palsy can be effective. We hope that case reports and clinical research will continue to be actively conducted in the future.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.1075-1083
• /
• 2018

Objective: Facial nerve palsy is caused by damage to the seventh cranial nerve. It is the main symptom of facial muscle paralysis on the affected side. If the patient cannot receive proper treatment, severe permanent impairments, both physical and mental, may result, so this disease must be treated appropriately. In this study, a patient with facial nerve palsy was admitted to a Korean medicine hospital for treatment. This case study reports on the patient's progress and the effects of the treatment. Methods: We treated the patient with herbal medicines, acupuncture, herbal acupuncture therapy, and physical therapy. The House-Brackmann Grading System and a weighted regional grading system were used to assess symptom changes. Results: The patient with facial nerve palsy was hospitalized for 50 days and recovered from symptoms without significant problems in the face or to motor function. Conclusion: This case report demonstrates the possibility of treating facial nerve palsy using Korean medicine.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.40
• /
• pp.22.1-22.4
• /
• 2018

Background: Cross-facial nerve graft is considered the treatment of choice for facial reanimation in patients with unilateral facial palsy caused by central facial nerve damage. In most cases, a traditional parotidectomy skin incision is used to locate the buccal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve. Methods: In this study, cross-facial nerve graft with the sural nerve was planned for three patients with facial palsy through an intraoral approach. Results: An incision was made on the buccal cheek mucosa, and the dissection was performed to locate the buccal branch of the facial nerve. The parotid papillae and parotid duct were used as anatomic landmarks to locate the buccal branch. Conclusions: The intraoral approach is more advantageous than the conventional extraoral approach because of clear anatomic marker (parotid papilla), invisible postoperative scar, reduced tissue damage from dissection, and reduced operating time.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.288-297
• /
• 2005

Rehabilitation of the paralyzed face as a result of trauma or surgery remains a daunting task. Complete restoration of emotionally driven symmetric facial motion is still unobtainable, but current techniques have enhanced our ability to improve this emotionally traumatic deficit. Problems of mass movement and synkinesis still plague even the best reconstructions. The reconstructive techniques used still represent a compromise between obtainable symmetry and motion at the expense of donor site deficits, but current techniques continue to refine and limit this morbidity. In chronically paralyzed face, direct nerve anastomosis, nerve graft, or microvascular-muscle graft is not always possible. In this case, regional muscle transposition is tried to reanimate the eyelid and lower face. Regional muscle includes maseeter muscle, temporalis muscle and anterior belly of the digastric muscle. Temporalis muscle is preferred because it is long, flat, pliable and wide-motion of excursion. In order to reanimate the upper and lower eyelid, Upper eyelid Gold weight implantion and lower eyelid shortening and tightening is mainly used recently, because this method is very simple, easy and reliable.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.40
• /
• pp.24.1-24.6
• /
• 2018

Temporalis tendon transfer is a technique for dynamic facial reanimation. Since its inception, nearly 80 years ago, it has undergone a wealth of innovation to produce the modern operation. Temporalis tendon transfer is a relatively minimally invasive technique for the dynamic reanimation of the paralyzed face. This technique can produce significant and appropriate movement of the lateral oral commissure, more closely mimicking the normal side. The aim of this article is to review the technique of temporalis tendon transfer involving transferring of the coronoid process of the mandible with the insertion of the temporalis tendon via intra-oral and transcutaneous approach.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.121-125
• /
• 2021

Bell's palsy is an acute peripheral facial paralysis with no detectable cause. Although the prognosis of Bell's palsy is generally good, some patients experience poor recoveries and there is no established treatment for those that do not recover even after receiving the conventional treatment. Here we present two cases of refractory Bell's palsy with facial nerve enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging who showed symptomatic improvement after the late administration of high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.395-402
• /
• 2023

Bell's palsy is an acute facial paralysis caused by peripheral facial nerve dysfunction. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of Korean medicine in the treatment of three patients who were hospitalized and diagnosed with Bell's palsy within 2 weeks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. The patients were administered with Korean medicine treatments, steroids, and antiviral drugs. Moreover, the Korean medicine treatments include acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, moxibustion, physical therapy, and herbal medicine. Symptom improvement was evaluated daily using the Yanagihara facial nerve grading system, a facial function evaluation tool. Furthermore, it was suggested that the patients affected by Bell's palsy after COVID-19 infection may have a slower improvement in their treatment progress compared with those without COVID-19 infection in the acute stage.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.19-28
• /
• 2007

Objectives : This study was conducted in order to analyze the admission patients of facial nerve paralysis by Sasang constitution. Methods: A clinical study was done on 61 admission patients who were diagnosed and treated as facial nerve paralysis (Bell's palsy) from September, 2005 to May 2006 at the Dept. of Acupuncture and Moxibution, Chung-ju Hospital, college of Daejeon Oriental Medicine. We classified 61 patients according to Sasang constitution by QSCC II, attack side, sex, cause factor, concomitant symptom and Yanagihara' s score at the admission and discharge, and analyzed the improvement of Yanagihara's score between Sasang constitution groups. Results: 1. By sex, the ratio of Taeumin was higher than that of Soyangin in female. 2. By attack side, there is no significant difference between constitution groups In concomitant symptoms and cause factors. 3. By improvement of Yanagihara's scores between admission and discharge, the improvement score in Soyangin was a little bit higher than that in Soeumin, but there is no significant difference. Conclusion : The results suggest that there is no significant difference in all aspects except sex in Sasang constitution. But it is considered that we need to keep on studying afterwards because we had limits in getting enough patients.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 2001

Background : Bell's palsy(BP) is defined as an idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis of acute onset, accounting for more than 50% of all cases of facial paralysis. Different theories on the etiology of BP have been proposed. Herpes simplex virus-1(HSV) has been the most suspicious causative agent, but varicella zoster virus(VZV) also is suspected. Objectives : We evaluated the serological changes of IgG and IgM titer of HSV and VZV to know the causative agent of BP. Materials and Methods : Subjects consisted of 35 patients who developed acute idiopathic unilateral facial palsy(16 men and 19 women from 9 to 78 years old) within a week of onset. We took the serum of the acute and convalescent stages, respectively. Serum IgG and IgM titer of HSV and VZV were measured in acute and convalescent stages by EIA method. Results : Only the HSV IgG titer showed statistically significant elevation in the convalescent stage(p=0.0291). Others did not show any significant change between the acute and convalescent stage. Conclusion : We concluded that HSV may be related to the causative agent of BP.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.8-20
• /
• 2015

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacopuncture in the treatment of acute peripheral facial paralysis (APFP) through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to assess the clinical evidence for pharmacopuncture as a treatment for PFP. Methods: Literature was searched using databases. The search terms used were "pharmacopuncture," "sweet BV," "apipuncture," "apitoxin," "injection acupuncture," and "herbal acupuncture" in English and "bongchim," "bongyakchim," and "yakchim" in Korean. The RevMan 5.2 program was used for meta-analysis. Results: In all, 1902 studies were screened and the full texts of 219 articles were reviewed. Of these, nine studies were included in the systematic review and nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. Treatments utilizing bee venom, sweet bee venom (SBV), Soyeom, Calculus Bovis Fel Ursi Moschus (BUM), Hominis Placenta, and Suseunghwagang (SSHG) were observed in nine RCTs. In the forest plot, the diamond favors the PA treatment against the control treatment. (95% CI: 0.34 [0.08, 0.60], Z = 2.57, P = 0.01), which Our meta-analysis in RevMan 5.2 confirmed the significant efficacy of PA in treating APFP. Conclusion: Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that treatments using Soyeom, bee venom, and BUM are effective in APFP and they reduce the duration of postauricular pain occurring at the acute stage of APFP. However, due to small effect size, further investigation is needed.