Anbody out there have experience with Chiropractic and Bells Palsey?

I would suggest physical therapy instead. My mom had bells palsey and she went to a physical therapist a couple times a week for about 2 months. It seemed to help her.

Bell’s Palsy involves the 7th cranial nerve (otherwise known as the Facial Nerve). This nerve never enters the spinal canal, so how a chiropractor could “fix” this problem with cervical manipulation is beyond me (assuming you even believed in the whole field of chiropractic in the first place.)
My conclusion: Bad idea.

My niece was just diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, and she is a massage therapist, and hasn’t mentioned an interest in a chiropractor.
Let me know if this helps.

Chiropractic is generally not respected or given credence by physicians. They disagree fundamentally on my issues. @shilolo‘s point about the specific nerve involved and where it connects makes sense here despite my observation that for other problems, I have benefited from chiropractic adjustments when conventional medical treatments were ineffective or their side effects were unacceptable.
Massage is very effective to for muscular problems in particular. I do not see how massage applies any better than chiropractic for Bell’s Palsy.

Time seems to be what allows the symptoms of Bell’s Palsy to abate. That is true with or without these alternative treatments.

It won’t hurt you to try either massage or chiropractic but my confidence is low that either will produce a cure.

I guess I am just impatient. I am so tired of taping my eye shut. Now that all the eyelashes are gone, it it just irritating the lower lid and manipulating the lids so they’re shut. Very irritating and tedious. Sorry about bad grammar, lots of meds.

I’ve had bells palsy since Feb 2009. I was 26 when I was first diagnosed. My doctor was and idiot to say the least, not helpful at all. She gave me antiviral and steroids for seven days, when i asked how long it typically last she said in some cases it never goes away, not what you want to hear when half your face is drooping. I did the meds, no response from my face. Doctor said there’s nothing you can do for this except physical therapy (which i never did) because from everything I read i understood it didn’t help all that much and that a normal case lasts about 3 months and will go away on its own. I did acupuncture 2 sessions about a month after it started, no response from my face. So from feb 09 to now my face has gotten slightly better then relapse I feel because the nature of my job is very stressful. I didn’t take any time off or bother to make other doctors appointments mainly because of that first very negative encounter, I guess i was just in denial and wanted it to go away. This December i was super stressed out at work my face went back to square one. So i decided to finally go to physical therapy. Physical therapy was pretty worthless i thought. The PT basically just gave me a print out of 4 sheets of paper and said just try these exercises and come back in three weeks. So i started doing the exercises and my face broke out into severe muscle spasms, but at least it was responding. I also started acupuncture. My face has drastically improved this time it responded to the acupuncture very well I have done 4 sessions im going every 3 days and its gotten a lot better. Its pricey $60.00 bucks a session but its well worth it, im tired of walking around with this face, and not being able to pronunciate. I think im about 60 percent better. Im going to keep doing the pt on my own and continue acupuncture, im also going to try a chiropractor. I just want to get better at this point im willing to spend money thats completely outside of my tradiontal insurance and what it covers. Try acupuncture and try to relax.

@ramz I have been to the chiropractor 4 times now, and she is using a laser kind of thing on my face and along the path of the nerves. I can already see some movement in my eyebrow, my lips and my nose is starting to match the other at rest. It is not nearly so entertaining to make faces at myself in the mirror. I have a ways to go, I still can’t close my left eye and stuff, but She is pretty sure I will make a good recovery.

MD’s kind of poo-poo Chiropractic and alternative medicine, but I am very excited at the progress I have made in 1 week! I give it 2 thumbs waaaay up! And Medicare is covering it to boot!

@majorrich How do you know that this slow rate of recovery wouldn’t have happened without the chiropractor? You don’t. It’s bullshit. Flat out, bullshit.

yea i guess the laser thing sounds kind of quacky but so does acupuncture. whatever works for your keep doing it. I waited way to long to address the issue. All i can say is that i look forward to going to acupuncture it is amazing, and i feel like my face is getting better everyday. Almost a full smile in four sessions after a year of not much at all.

It took me about two months to close my eye. Taped it down until it closed just enough. Still not full eye recovery, i think it will one of the last things to fully heal.

@shilolo I don’t know if these treatments are helping or not, but they certainly don’t seem to be hindering anything. My MD is in a ‘wait and see’ attitude, and I am in a ‘do something even if it’s wrong’ attitude. I just want my face back. I don’t doubt the placebo effect as far out there as laser treatments sound, but heck, it’s free and the ball is definitely moving down the field. I may never know if it was time or the treatments and really don’t care. This morning I had independent movement in the left eyebrow. It’s the first thing that side of my face can do. Coupling that with treatments, exercising and making faces at myself, I am actively working to get to my goal.

“Free”? Really? For whom, you? The chiropractor is getting paid, repeatedly, from Medicare. Yet another money pit that we, the taxpayers, are paying for even though there is no evidence it works. Can you say, flush?

@ramz Thanks for the answer, and welcome to Fluther. Lurve!

One more thing. Where does a chiropractor get off using a “laser device” on your face. I thought they did manipulations only. What’s this about working with “nerves” and “lasers”?

Are you a physician?

One more thing, I pay for my medicare coverage, and paid into it before becoming disabled. So can this ‘We are paying for you bullshit’.

Yes, I am a physician, and chiropractic is voodoo. Moreover, even though chiropractic is for the most part untested at baseline, using an unvetted device (a laser) is even worse. Finally, you’re the one that said it was “free”. I’m simply pointing out that it is far from free. Did you know that at least 50% of courses in chiropractic “school” are business and marketing courses? Want to know why? Because, they need to learn how to convince people to keep coming back and back and back. How many visits did the chiropractor say you needed at the first visit? I would venture that he/she predicted at least 10 visits, but probably closer to 30–50 visits. They are scam artists.

Are you usually such an asshole? And I am glad you are a physician so I can ask questions about other issues not related to this Bell’s issue. I will contact you off board as these have nothing to do with this thread and I don’t want to start or appear to be instigating any urination competitions.

The Laser Therapy thing is a blue box with a lot of buttons on it. Apparently a code is input into the machine it puts out light through a wandlike handset she waves over the affected area. (in this case the left side of my face, the side of my neck and a little bit on my right cheek. I wear a blue pair of safety glasses during the procedure. I usually close my eye and just sit and wait while she is doing her thing. I do have the sensation of like a little breeze of something sometimes where she is hosing me down with the wand thing.

My wife noticed some improvement from the first treatment and after three I can wiggle my eyebrow and with some effort flare my left nostril a little. My Mouth is dead straight and not drooping anymore and I can open it a lot wider, though not as wide as before this whole ordeal started.

Is your demeanor an indictment against chiropractic and you’re lighting me up because I pressed your buttons or what? I don’t know anything about Chiropractic school. or insurance or billing or anything of your universe

I was a Data Technician before I became ill and spent thousands of dollars to conventional hospitals in copayment and coinsurance only to have them tell me they don’t know what is wrong with me, but that I can’t go back to work. I am sure millions of dollars in testing has been billed (knowing my local hospital and postulating that to the Cleveland Clinic and OSU James) But these are all about the issues I hope you can help me understand off this thread. If you don’t mind may add you to my fluther because I can at least count on you to tell me what you think without candycoating?

@majorrich You know, we’ve had this conversation before (regarding your pheochromocytoma). Also, I don’t answer medical questions. Sorry.

You know I kind of remember that conversation. Thanks. A non-medical question though. Why don’t doctors and hospitals share information with each other? It seems as I go to each clinic, they reinvent the wheel rather than look at what the other people have done. Would have saved me many many rads.

And you DID wade right in there under your medical flag calling Chiropractic Quackery and all the stuff about their schooling. And your one sentence about my Pheo.

This isn’t about medicine, it’s about chiropractic (which isn’t medicine) and its feasibility vis-a-vis Bell’s Palsy. I gave you a link to an anatomic illustration why it wouldn’t work, and commented on chiropractic (again, not medicine). My last line was just to remind you that we’ve discussed your issue in the past. I no longer participate in that owing to precisely these kinds of “debates”.

Aah. OK I think I understand. I get buried anytime someone finds out I know/knew anything about fixing computers or networks. Under the terms of my retirement, I am not allowed to work for pay on these things. Actually I’m not supposed to work at all, but at a 60% retirement I took quite a hit in the pocket. I can say with some pride, when you watch an OSU football game, I helped install part of that network.

@majorrich, These type of people will die saying Chiropractic is bogus, or if it isn’t, if there is any improvement, it’s all due to placebo effect. Well, Yaaay for placebo effects!

Personally, I have noticed that some placebos are far more effective than others. For example, I generally get more help for a stiff neck by a visit to my chiropractor than by eating a chocolate chip cookie. So the placebo effect works much better if you go with the chiropractor. Anyway, I’m sure glad to hear you’re getting better.

Yes, “these type(s) (sic) of people”... the rational, scientific, logical types that don’t believe in fairy tails, magic, voodoo, and snake oil.