Acupuncture benefits a pregnant patient who has Bell's palsy: a case study.

Here we report the complete recovery from Bell's palsy (BP) of a 27-year-old woman, 27 weeks pregnant, after 2 weeks of acupuncture treatment. BP in pregnancy is an acute idiopathic peripheral facial paralysis of unknown etiology. Treatment and management have not been well evaluated or documented in the literature. The patient was exposed to wind and cold weather before the rapid onset of BP on December 26, 2008. She was treated with acupuncture without co-intervention. During the first week, needles were gently manipulated at local and distal acupoints to induce the qi sensation, and direct moxibustion with moxa sticks was performed at two points, Yangbai (GB14) and Dicang (ST4). During the second week, needles were manipulated without inducing the qi sensation, and moxibustion was performed as previously explained. To document progress, the patient was videotaped before, during, and after each treatment. Outcome assessments included the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system (HBS), the Nottingham facial nerve grading system, and the Facial Disability Indexes (FDIP). Prior to treatment, her HBS was II, Nottingham was 50.88%, and FDIP was 90. After 2 weeks, her symptoms had disappeared, her face was restored to normal, HBS was I, Nottingham was 96.46%, and FDIP was 100. These results suggest that acupuncture may be a safe, alternative treatment for BP in pregnancy.