• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.240-248
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of study was to determine the effects of muscle reeducation training in patients with acute facial nerve paralysis. Methods: Thirty patients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=15) or the control group (n=15). The experimental group received muscle reeducation training for 20 minutes after electrotherapy and the control group received conventional electrotherapy for only 40 minutes. Therapeutic intervention for each group was performed four times per week for four weeks. The patients were measured for recovery of paralysis using the House-Brackmann Grading System (H-B grade), the Movement Distance of Mouth, Nasolabial Angle (NA), and Facial Disability Index (FDI). Results: In within group comparison, the experimental group showed significant improvements for all variables (p<0.01). In comparison between two groups, the experimental group showed relatively greater significant improvements for all variables (p<0.01). Conclusion: These findings suggest that muscle reeducation training is more effective than conventional therapy in improving the condition of patients with facial nerve paralysis. In particular, the results of this study indicate that muscle reeducation training can be recommended by clinicians since it provides more benefits.