Facial muscle spasm is treated from the cervical spine

  Facial muscle spasm is a common clinical condition, the cause of which is unknown. Western medicine believes that it is partly due to the presence of vascular compression in the brainstem area of the facial nerve. There are many treatment methods, but there is no specific treatment. Western medicine advocates oral sedative drugs, botulinum toxin injection, radiofrequency temperature-controlled thermal coagulation, surgery and other treatments, some of which are effective, but also have serious side effects, and some of which are replaced by permanent facial paralysis or left with severe headaches.  Recently, a woman, 62 years old, had facial spasm for more than 1 year. During this period, she took oral Chinese medicine for half a year, acupuncture for 3 months, and western medicine for a period of time, but none of them were effective and the symptoms were getting worse. After CT and MRI diagnosis at the provincial hospital, it could not be determined that his facial nerve was significantly compressed by blood vessels. He was in pain and considered whether to have surgery at Qilu Hospital or at China-Japan Friendship Hospital. However, he found out that there were many complications and some of them had serious sequelae. He was referred to our clinic by an acquaintance and did not have much hope. After detailed inquiry, I found that the patient had neck and back discomfort, partial spasm of the neck and back muscles on palpation, and subluxation of some vertebrae of the cervical and thoracic spine. The patient also had tinnitus, which was especially worse at night, and if he woke up in the second half of the night, he could not go back to sleep because of the tinnitus. I used relaxation techniques to relieve the spasm and tension in his neck and back, and then corrected the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. After 3 treatments, the patient’s tinnitus was reduced, his nighttime sleep improved significantly, and his facial muscle spasm was reduced. After 1 month of treatment, the patient’s facial muscle spasm was significantly relieved, and after 3 months of treatment, the patient could communicate with others without facial spasm, with occasional contraction at the corners of the eyes.  Through the treatment of this patient, it was realized that part of the facial spasm was closely related to the cervical spine. The patient did not do any manipulation on his face from the beginning to the end, but his facial muscle spasm was relieved. Later on, several other similar patients were treated from the cervical spine and also received very good results.