Role of Homoeopathy In Treatment of Bell’s Palsy

What is bell’s palsy ?

(IDIOPATHIC FACIAL PARALYSIS)

Named after Surgeon Sir Charles Bell’s and also known as facial palsy, Bell’s palsy is the sudden weakness of one side of the face.

It is often temporary and is attributed to the inflammation of the facial nerve that controls the muscles on the weakened side of the face. This condition usually comes overnight.

The cause is not fully understood. It is thought to be started by an inflammation or swelling of the facial nerve. This nerve is in charge of the muscles of facial expression (e.g. frowning or smiling), closing the eyelids and it also has something to do with taste and the front part of the tongue. it may be caused by swelling or pressure on the nerve as it leaves the skull. This may be from
trauma (e.g. a bang to the head) patients often recall cooling of the face by a cold draught or airplane trips just before the onset ,ear infections ,infection of the skull bone close to the ear (mastoiditis) or parotid gland (parotitis),infection with a herpes virus – this type of facial palsy is called Ramsay-Hunt syndrome.

Sign & symptoms 

• Symptoms of Bell’s palsy include:
  • Sudden weakness or paralysis on one side of your face that causes it to droop. This is the main symptom. It may make it hard for you to close your eye on that side of your face.
• Drooling.
• Eye problems, such as excessive tearing or a dry eye.
• Loss of ability to taste.
• Pain in or behind your ear.
• Numbness in the affected side of your face.

            Increased sensitivity to sound.

If they develop other symptoms including severe pain, eyesight problems or weakness elsewhere in the body or blisters in the ear or mouth, this needs reassessing.

Treatment 

Most people with Bell’s palsy recover fully  with or without treatment. There’s no one-size-fits-all treatment for Bell’s palsy, but your doctor may suggest medications or physical therapy to help speed your recovery. Surgery is rarely an option for Bell’s palsy. Around 90 per cent of children with Bell’s palsy recover fully without treatment, especially if the symptoms begin to improve within the first three weeks. There are usually signs of improvement in about six weeks, though it may be a year before the facial weakness has gone away completely. A few children may have mild, ongoing weakness in their facial muscles. Children tend to recover better than adults.

Medications

Commonly used medications to treat Bell’s palsy include:

• Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, are powerful anti-inflammatory agents. If they can reduce the swelling of the facial nerve, it will fit more comfortably within the bony corridor that surrounds it. Corticosteroids may work best if they’re started within several days of when your symptoms started.
• Antiviral drugs. The role of antivirals remains unsettled. Antivirals alone have shown no benefit compared with placebo. Antivirals added to steroids are possibly beneficial for some people with Bell’s palsy, but this is still unproved.

Homoeopathy & Treatment 

“When treating Bell’s palsy in children, if you take a good case with careful observation then prescribe the appropriate homeopathic remedy it gives you quick results”.

Homoeopathy acts on deeper level but we need to see the cause & how it started , without knowing the complete history we can never help the patient .There are no shortcuts get through complete case taking then only you can lead to give cure.

©Dr.Jitesh Sharma