My facial paralysis patient's eyebrow is finally moving! This is the branch of her facial nerve that was the most adversely affected by her tumor and subsequent brain surgery, all originating from the flu shot. She has been working with me for over 2 years now with weekly acupuncture, sometimes twice a week. We have done scalp and facial acupuncture with electric stimulation, plus supportive points on the rest of her body. The intention behind each treatment has been to repair the nerve while simultaneously shrinking the remaining tumor. Her MRIs have shown slow shrinking of the tumor, and each visit brings more & more symmetry to her facial presentation.
The acupuncture has been coupled with herbs, supplements, dietary changes, exercise, and good lifestyle practices. She has concurrently been using a tens unit twice a week in her free time to electrically stimulate the three branches of her facial nerve. I recently have been leaving her with tacks, which are 1 mm needles on a little sticker that can be placed on a point and left in for a day or two.
Within the last 3 months, we tried a new herbal formula called Symmetry that is clearly *way* stronger than what we had had her on previously. The formulas for paralysis tend to have more obscure herbs that are not as easy to come by in the US. This includes worms and scorpion venom. In the US, pharmaceutical animal testing practices are rarely discussed, yet finger pointing of animal parts used in Chinese herbal formulas is rampant. This is one of the ways that racism expresses itself., and is ultimately a conversation for a different day.
This case has been my toughest and simultaneously most rewarding. The patient is dedicated to a long path of healing outside the western medical system that got her here to begin with. I respect and admire her perseverance. Paralysis is a *hard core* thing to go through and being alongside for the recovery from it is *extremely* moving. This is a case that will stay with me to the end of my days
Below is a collage she made of her progress last year. She will make another one in a year's time.
