With many people under tremendous pressure to complete projects before the Lunar New Year next month, a Taipei doctor has urged the public to look out for symptoms of Bell’s palsy.
Taipei City Hospital’s Yangming Branch traditional Chinese medicine physician Lin Chia-ying (林佳瑩) said increased workload for students and employees and sudden drops in temperature at this time of year have driven up the number of people experiencing partial facial paralysis, such as a drooping eye or mouth, inability to close the affected eye and uncontrollable drooling.
“These people included a 48-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), who suddenly exhibited a sagging mouth and an inability to shut his left eye after working overtime on several consecutive days, as well as a 60-year-old woman who also experienced similar symptoms after battling a prolonged cold and increased workload at the same time,” Lin said.
Lin said that as these patients did not exhibit numbness or impeded movement of the limbs, she was able to rule out stroke and diagnosed them with facial paralysis, with the most common type being Bell’s palsy.
Bell’s palsy affects approximately 15 to 30 out of every 100,000 people and can occur in anyone, regardless of their age and gender, Lin said.
The exact cause of the disease remains unknown, Lin said, but most sufferers experience flu-like symptoms, work overtime or are studying for exams before they lapse into facial paralysis.
Lin advised people suffering from Bell’s palsy to massage their face daily to improve blood circulation, engage in facial muscle exercises, such as frowning, whistling and ballooning one’s cheeks, and to keep their face warm to avoid poor blood flow.
“They can also resort to a neurologist and undergo acupuncture treatments within the first three months after the onset of Bell’s palsy symptoms, which can cure nearly 80 percent of such patients,” Lin said.
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