[Welfare News]Facial paralysis, as the name suggests, refers to ‘a symptom in which the face is paralyzed’. The causes are largely central and peripheral. As the name suggests, centrality is due to problems in the brain itself, such as cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction, and peripherality is caused by problems with the facial nerve, a peripheral nerve that exits the central brain. Among them, I would like to look into peripheral facial paralysis through Professor Kang Joong-won of the Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Facial Paralysis Center) at Kyung Hee Korean Medicine Hospital.
Peripheral facial palsy is classified according to the cause, and representative ones are Bell’s palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The difference between the two is the type of virus. Bell’s palsy is also called idiopathic without a specific cause, but according to a recent study, it is also caused by the herpes simplex virus. Ramsay Hunt syndrome is caused by the varicella zoster virus and has the characteristics of shingles, such as blisters and excruciating pain. Ramsay Hunt syndrome is generally more severe than Bell’s palsy.
The precursor symptom of facial paralysis is ‘ear pain’. A few days before the onset of the disease, you feel pain in the bone (mastoid process) that is the size of the upper part of your thumb located at the bottom of the back of the auricle. Next is the deterioration of the sense of taste. 2-3 days before the onset of the disease, the sense of taste deteriorates. Of course, not all of these symptoms lead to facial paralysis.
Kang Joong-won, professor at Kyung Hee Korean Medicine Hospital, said, “The golden time for treatment of facial paralysis is known to have better results when actively treated within 72 hours of onset. In reality, you should come to the hospital and receive treatment as soon as possible, rather than waiting until 72 hours. Facial paralysis is a race against time. As the treatment time is delayed, it continues to deteriorate, so when facial paralysis occurs, the best action for patients to take is to seek medical institutions without delay and to be very active in treatment from the beginning.”
It is difficult to say uniformly about the recovery time because each patient has a different degree of nerve damage that affects the degree of symptoms. It takes about half a month. Of course, depending on the case, the time may be shorter than this, and in severe cases, after two and a half months, there are cases where the aftereffects remain without recovery at all. Depending on the age of the patient or the state of physical condition and physical strength, the treatment period will inevitably change.
Professor Kang Joong-won of Kyung Hee Korean Medicine Hospital said, “Prevention to prevent outbreaks is more important than management in daily life. When mental stress increases, when physical fatigue lasts for a long time, when the overall immunity decreases, such as when you suffer from a major illness and become weak, the possibility of developing the disease increases, so the first thing to do is to restore your overall health. Even if it feels vague, it is absolutely necessary,” he said. “I hope you secure the quantity and quality of your meals and sleep, and protect yourself from excessive stress. It is also important to prevent physical fatigue from accumulating at once and to maintain muscle strength through regular exercise.”