Deqi sensation enhanced effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for facial paralysis

Facial paralysis is a common condition that involves the paralysis of any structure innervated by facial nerve. Bell’s palsy is the most common cause of acute facial paralysis. Patients experience facial weakness on affected side, loss of taste and sometimes inability to perform normal communications. The condition also affects the eyelid and mouth, making it difficult to open and close them. Patients are typically under great psychological stress in addition to their physical limitations due to this problem. The cause of Bell’s palsy is believed to be associated with inflammation of the facial nerve, possibly due to a viral infection, leading to its inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side.  The treatment of facial paralysis should be carried out in the early stage aiming at restoring the strength of facial muscles.

Effectiveness of acupuncture in clinical trials of many conditions such as back pain is not conclusive. One of the reasons is whether Deqi sensation is induced during acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture stimulation elicits a sensory sensation termed deqi which literally means “the arrival of vital energy” in traditional Chinese medicine. Multiple unique sensations experienced by the patients around the site of needle manipulation are described as tingling, soreness, fullness, aching, warmth and heaviness. A recent clinical trial involved 338 patients with Bell’s palsy in China. The patients were divided into the deqi group (needles were manipulated until deqi is reached) and control group (needles were not manipulated). The researchers reported that patients in deqi group showed better facial function, better disability assessment and better quality of life compared to the patients in control group and they conclude that acupuncture treatment with deqi sensation had a greater therapeutic effect because it may enhance excitability, flexibility and reactivity of the nerve system.

Reference:

SB Xu et al., (2014) CMAJ. 185(6):473-9.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23439629