Bells Palsey/Trigeminal Neuralgia West. Diff. Dx/E-stim?

[Guest guest]

A patient came in today (15yF) with mild facial paralysis 5 day onset.

eye, nose, mouth, ear affected, with stabbing pain beginning today. I

treated Liv W/Ph stirring & qi/blood stag in the channels/collaterals using

scalp acu with estim, local points and some distal points to address the

pattern. she responded beautifully, showing imp. post tx (no pain,

increased movement in nose and mouth).

 

i have a couple of questions:

 

estim: using the Shang Hi scalp protocol, i needled the lower 2/5ths of the

mtr line contra lat and sensory line ipsilateral. i don't estim often and

remember the pre-caution about the heart. so i was concerned about hooking

up leads on the opposite sides of the head simultaneously. therefore, i

estimed each side separately. would it be ok to do both sides of the

brain at the same time, or was i correct in my caution? (i did research JCM

on scalp acu some time ago. they are estiming the scalp in china, with

excellent results. if memory serves, at the time i was researching

parkinson's dx).

 

i'm curious about the west. differential dx. for those of you who are up on

that, what do you think the possibilities might be. i'm ruling out

trigeminal neuralgia, as the pain didn't begin until 5 days after initial

onset of paralysis. the symptoms are mild, no watery eyes or drooling, so

i'm wondering if bell's palsy could be ruled out, also. i'm ruling out

stroke, no LOC or limbs affected. so that leaves simple facial paralysis of

unknown origin. any thoughts on this?

 

would an MRI be required to get a firm, western dx, or are there simple,

in office tests that could be used? as she is responding well to TCM tx

(i'm also giving a raw herbal rx) is she ok to wait a few days before

reporting to her family physician, or should she go immediately, as a

precaution?

 

i appreciate your feedback on this,

 

kath

 

 

 

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