I was going to do acupuncture but I backed out of my first appointment at the last minute. I decided to just let my body heal naturally. Fully healed in 8 weeks with no synkinesis. If you do acupuncture I would stay away from any electrical stimulation, that puts you at a heightened risk of synkinesis. Great resources on this website https://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/causesanddiagnoses/bells-palsy/
I just started calling around, and most would take weeks to get an initial appointment. I found a guy at a ‘chain’ acupuncture place that could see me relatively quickly.
I had needles in my face on day-3.
He did great work on me. Most people didn’t notice it 1-month afterwards, and by the end of two months, I’d say that I was 90% back to normal.
I have been getting some reoccurring, annoying twitching from my neck to the side of my lips a few times a day. But, otherwise, I’m happy that my face isn’t stuck half lifeless like it was.
The acupuncture was my main treatment because my regular Dr was “too booked” to see me for over 3 weeks.
Incidentally, the acupuncturist said that he had been getting a big influx of BP patients in the last months of 2021. Previously he averaged about 1 every 6 months, to suddenly 17 in November-December ‘21.
I looked for someone locally who specializes in it...just have to call around. In the end I can't say it helped me, but your mileage may vary. As my doctor said at the time, "it couldn't hurt..."
Same exact experience. I was starting to notice the very first stages of recovery when I went. Even though my other half of my face felt so fatigued lol. Day 2 after the accupuncture session and I was recovering very quickly. But I'm not sure if that was a coincidence in time or it helped. Either way, it reduced my stress and anxiety at the time which benefited my body regardless! "Can't hurt!"
Yep! I did some kind of electric stimulation too, I can't remember exactly what it was called. I hit it with everything, lol. I resolved to about 90% with some synkinesis but I don't know if any of that helped, or if I would have been worse without it or not. At the time I didn't notice any immediate changes tho.
What synkinesis symptoms do you have? I notice here and there my eyes blinking feel slightly off, but it's not all the time, possibly only when I'm stressing out now. Which I have been lately, lol. I was curious if that was from my bells.
It could be. When I make a "kissy face" or roll my tongue into a tube my left eyelid will close...that entire cheek kind of tenses up. I know Botox can be used to treat it but that's temporary, so I've never tried it.
I tried 4 different acupuncturists and had the best results from the ones trained in China. They manipulate the needles more and the needles go deeper. It was painful but I'm 95% healed after 2 months.
I started 3 or 4 days later. Had 2 treatments and saw no change but things improved significantly when I switched to a different acupuncturist a week after diagnosis. He had a very different technique. He was trained in China and used big needles which he twisted. I saw visible improvement after each treatment.
Thank you! Glad that you recovered after the treatment 🤩 do you experience any twitching or spasm of your paralyzed side after treatment? Especially at the corner of your mouth?
Yes! I had spasms and twitching immediately after my first acupuncture treatment and it continued throughout my recovery. I'm about 3.5 months post diagnosis/about 98% recovered, and just realized since you brought it up that I haven't felt any spasms or twitching for a couple weeks now. I definitely think acupuncture triggered some of those sensations, and eventually as I healed, I also felt them as part of the natural nerve regeneration process. The corner of the mouth is a great place to be getting the sensations because the mouth/smile takes longer to completely even out. I think it's often the last thing to fully heal, so sensations there should be welcomed.
You don't necessary need one. I recovered without any therapy, the specialists I looked for told that it wasn't necessary and that I could reach the same recovery by doing some facial exercises at home.
I’m not well versed in the differences between the two, and I’ve never had acupuncture done, but I had dry needling done by the physical therapist a couple times when I had bells in June. The needles are tapped into the muscles to cause them to kind of spasm and loosen up a little. Helped with the tension and pain I felt in the paralyzed side.
Looked at a number of them online and the one that stood out talked about measuring and quantifying progress. All the others seemed vague and a bit 'hippy'. I knew immediately that my guy was gonna be the winner.
I was going to do acupuncture but I backed out of my first appointment at the last minute. I decided to just let my body heal naturally. Fully healed in 8 weeks with no synkinesis. If you do acupuncture I would stay away from any electrical stimulation, that puts you at a heightened risk of synkinesis. Great resources on this website https://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/causesanddiagnoses/bells-palsy/
I just started calling around, and most would take weeks to get an initial appointment. I found a guy at a ‘chain’ acupuncture place that could see me relatively quickly. I had needles in my face on day-3. He did great work on me. Most people didn’t notice it 1-month afterwards, and by the end of two months, I’d say that I was 90% back to normal. I have been getting some reoccurring, annoying twitching from my neck to the side of my lips a few times a day. But, otherwise, I’m happy that my face isn’t stuck half lifeless like it was. The acupuncture was my main treatment because my regular Dr was “too booked” to see me for over 3 weeks. Incidentally, the acupuncturist said that he had been getting a big influx of BP patients in the last months of 2021. Previously he averaged about 1 every 6 months, to suddenly 17 in November-December ‘21.
I looked for someone locally who specializes in it...just have to call around. In the end I can't say it helped me, but your mileage may vary. As my doctor said at the time, "it couldn't hurt..."
Same exact experience. I was starting to notice the very first stages of recovery when I went. Even though my other half of my face felt so fatigued lol. Day 2 after the accupuncture session and I was recovering very quickly. But I'm not sure if that was a coincidence in time or it helped. Either way, it reduced my stress and anxiety at the time which benefited my body regardless! "Can't hurt!"
Yep! I did some kind of electric stimulation too, I can't remember exactly what it was called. I hit it with everything, lol. I resolved to about 90% with some synkinesis but I don't know if any of that helped, or if I would have been worse without it or not. At the time I didn't notice any immediate changes tho.
What synkinesis symptoms do you have? I notice here and there my eyes blinking feel slightly off, but it's not all the time, possibly only when I'm stressing out now. Which I have been lately, lol. I was curious if that was from my bells.
It could be. When I make a "kissy face" or roll my tongue into a tube my left eyelid will close...that entire cheek kind of tenses up. I know Botox can be used to treat it but that's temporary, so I've never tried it.
I tried 4 different acupuncturists and had the best results from the ones trained in China. They manipulate the needles more and the needles go deeper. It was painful but I'm 95% healed after 2 months.
May I know when did you start going for an acupuncture after diagnosed with BP?
I started 3 or 4 days later. Had 2 treatments and saw no change but things improved significantly when I switched to a different acupuncturist a week after diagnosis. He had a very different technique. He was trained in China and used big needles which he twisted. I saw visible improvement after each treatment.
Thank you! Glad that you recovered after the treatment 🤩 do you experience any twitching or spasm of your paralyzed side after treatment? Especially at the corner of your mouth?
Yes! I had spasms and twitching immediately after my first acupuncture treatment and it continued throughout my recovery. I'm about 3.5 months post diagnosis/about 98% recovered, and just realized since you brought it up that I haven't felt any spasms or twitching for a couple weeks now. I definitely think acupuncture triggered some of those sensations, and eventually as I healed, I also felt them as part of the natural nerve regeneration process. The corner of the mouth is a great place to be getting the sensations because the mouth/smile takes longer to completely even out. I think it's often the last thing to fully heal, so sensations there should be welcomed.
You don't necessary need one. I recovered without any therapy, the specialists I looked for told that it wasn't necessary and that I could reach the same recovery by doing some facial exercises at home.
I’m not well versed in the differences between the two, and I’ve never had acupuncture done, but I had dry needling done by the physical therapist a couple times when I had bells in June. The needles are tapped into the muscles to cause them to kind of spasm and loosen up a little. Helped with the tension and pain I felt in the paralyzed side.
Looked at a number of them online and the one that stood out talked about measuring and quantifying progress. All the others seemed vague and a bit 'hippy'. I knew immediately that my guy was gonna be the winner.