The Effectiveness and Safety of Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment for Bell's Palsy

This is an observational study that evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Korean integrative treatments in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy. A total of 100 patients who are in age of from 19 to 69, diagnosed with peripheral facial nerve palsy, in acute to subacute stage, and who receive Korean integrative treatments for facial palsy will be enrolled in this study. This study is an observational study and the intervention will be decided not by researchers, but by physicians in the real clinical practice. The treatment will be entirely determined according to each subject's medical conditions by an experienced clinician who has received more than 6 years of education and more than 3 years of training. This study will only record the contents of the intervention. Among all the data generated during the study period, data deemed necessary can be collected in the case record forms. The intervention will also be determined by the clinician, and the researcher presented assessment and data collection timepoints, which is independent of the treatment schedule. The on-treatment visit schedule will be once a week during the treatment is ongoing, and follow-up visit schedule will be on the 5th, 14th, and 53rd weeks after the baseline.

Inclusion criteria

• age of 19 to 69
• diagnosed with unilateral peripheral facial nerve palsy
• onset of facial palsy within 3 weeks or less.
• an individual who can provide written consent form to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• diagnosed with central nervous system disease causing facial palsy
• secondary facial palsy after multiple sclerosis, tumor, cerebrovascular disease and temporal bone fracture.
• Ramsay-Hunt syndrome
• bilateral or recurrent facial nerve palsy.
• an individual who received any treatment that can have a significant effect on changes in facial paralysis within recent 2 month. (ie. facial nerve decompression surgery)
• already or planned to be pregnant or breast-feeding within the study period.
• uncontrolled diabetes mellitus within the last 3 months.
• within a month after participating any other facial palsy-related clinical trials, or planning to participate other clinical trials within 6 month.
• impossible to read and understand the documents, regarding informed consent form and the questionnaires.
• difficult to participate according to the judgement of researchers.