Clinical research progress on acupuncture treatment for peripheral facial palsy

Zhou Yuan; Zhou Xi; Wu Xiaoming; Wang Linjia; Wang Yun; Mao Xiang; Wang Yanru

doi:10.11986/j.issn.1673-873X.2025.11.01

Abstract：To systematically summarize recent research progress on acupuncture interventions for peripheral facial palsy,ex-tract advantageous treatment protocols,and analysing current research deficiencies,this article reviews recent literature in China and globally and synthesizes findings on etiology and pathogenesis,clinical research,commonly used acupoint selec-tion,and efficacy evaluation.Modern medicine tends to attribute the disease to factors such as viral infection,vascular le-sions,autoimmune disorder,and nerve injury;traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes mechanisms such as"right deficiency allowing evil invasion"and invasion of facial meridians by wind-cold or wind-heat.Intervention modalities include single tech-niques such as acupuncture and electroacupuncture,as well as combined approaches such as acupuncture plus herbal medi-cine,acupuncture with tuina,and acupuncture with cupping.Acupoint selection strategies give weight to local points,syn-drome differentiation points,and points along the meridians.In efficacy evaluation,Western medicine commonly uses quan-titative measures such as the House-Brackmann grading and the Portmann scale,while traditional Chinese medicine empha-sizes facial symmetry and improvement of accompanying symptoms as part of a comprehensive assessment.Existing studies indicate that acupuncture has definite efficacy,but research remains limited by inconsistent staging criteria,heterogeneity of study designs,insufficient elucidation of mechanisms of action,and lack of standardized procedures.Future work should strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration,further explore action pathways,and establish unified diagnosis and treatment protocols to enhance and promote the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture.