title: Case study of Bell's palsy applying complementary treatment within an occupational therapy model.
abstract: For 7% of people with Bell's palsy, facial impairment is permanent. The case study patient was a 48-year-old female who had no recovery from paralysis 12 weeks after onset. Goals were to restore facial sensory-motor functions, functional abilities and reduce depression. Facial paralysis was assessed by clinical observations, the Facial Disability Index and Beck Depression Index. Complementary interventions of aromatherapy, reflexology and electro-acupuncture were used with common physical agent modalities in an intensive home activity and exercise programme. The patient had 100% return of function and resolution of depression after 10 days of intervention. The limitation of this study is that it was a retrospective case study and the investigators reconstructed the case from clinical notes. Further research using a prospective approach is recommended to replicate this study.
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79902, USA. emilyh@utep.edu
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haltiwanger
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Joe C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Stuart
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzales-Stuart
mesh_terms: D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy