title: Long-term effects of neuromuscular rehabilitation of chronic facial paralysis.
abstract: Although chronic facial dysfunction can be improved with neuromuscular biofeedback therapy, it is uncertain whether this improvement is maintained after such therapy ends, or whether post-therapy, home exercise programs optimize this improvement. We aimed to clarify these issues. Post-therapy facial function, in 38 previously treated patients, was blindly assessed using the House grading system, 1 to 41 months after ending therapy. Results were compared with pre-therapy function. It was found that post-therapy function was better than pre-therapy function in most patients (40%), it was worse in some (26%), and was unchanged in the rest. This surprising result occurred because, although most patients who recently stopped therapy (1 to 6 mo) had improved significantly, the longer other patients were out of therapy, the more they had tended to deteriorate, particularly those who had been practicing. Results suggested that unsupervised, post-therapy, home exercise programs may be detrimental, and that new post-therapy programs may be required to maintain the benefits of regular therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Montreal Facial Nerve Clinic of SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Quebec.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shiau
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Danys
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors