Not long ago, an old man in his 60s had a sudden onset of facial paralysis and immediately went to the hospital, but his children told him that using hormone therapy would raise his blood pressure and blood sugar, make his skin dry and rough, and make his body fat. The old man listened to his children’s advice and did not take the medicine as prescribed by the doctor. As a result, his mouth and eyes became more and more distorted, and when he went back to the hospital seven days later, the doctor told him that it was difficult for him to recover completely because you did not use hormones at the best time, and because you were old. Should facial palsy patients use hormones or not? Are hormones really that terrible? There are many treatments for facial palsy, including anti-viral therapy, hormone therapy, vasodilatation and nutritional nerve therapy, Chinese herbal medicine, physiotherapy and facial nerve decompression. However, among these therapies, people have the most questions about hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is recognized as the most important basic therapy for facial palsy in domestic and international medical circles, which means that all patients with facial palsy should receive this therapy. The direct cause of facial palsy is facial nerve edema. The facial nerve is threaded through the bony canal, and the volume of the bony canal is fixed. Once the facial nerve is edematous, it will cause pressure on the facial nerve, and over time, it will cause abnormal neurotransmitter transmission, and the result is facial nerve dysfunction. ”Facial palsy starts quickly and usually peaks in 3 days, so hormones must be used within 3 days of the onset of facial palsy, and the sooner the better.” The use of hormones can effectively eliminate facial nerve edema, allowing for rapid recovery from nerve damage and reducing the appearance of sequelae. The use of hormones must be within the acute period. Generally, after 7 days, there is no need to use hormones, but to use nerve-nourishing drugs instead, together with the use of acupuncture or physical therapy in Chinese medicine. Patients with facial palsy should use hormones in adequate amounts. 1mg per kilogram of body weight per day, and the daily dose administered should be between 40 and 60mg, with a maximum of 80mg; discontinue the drug after one week of continuous use. “It is true that hormones have greater side effects, but it is not like those drugs for chronic diseases that must be used for a long time, so as long as the dose and time are strictly controlled, it will not cause any harm to the human body.” Not all patients with facial palsy are suitable for hormone therapy, for example, hormones should be used with caution for patients with facial palsy who have combined infections, severe osteoporosis, glaucoma, diabetes and other diseases. Traumatic therapy should not be chosen during the acute phase of facial palsy Facial palsy treatment is probably the most confusing in China, with those who go to neurology and otorhinolaryngology for treatment, those who seek treatment from Chinese medicine practitioners, those who receive physical therapy, and those who treat themselves, especially some patients from the grassroots, cupping, plastering, bloodletting, all kinds of things, and some southern patients who use eel blood to put on the affected side. “Blind use of these methods will instead cause more serious damage to the facial nerve, which is in the edema phase, increasing the risk of sequelae.” In fact, facial palsy is not considered a difficult disease, because clinically about 70 percent of facial palsy will heal on its own, and only about 30 percent of patients need to take other means of treatment. However, only about half of the patients receive timely treatment, while the other half are mostly delayed due to lack of attention to treatment or taking methods such as acupuncture and folk recipes in the acute stage. After the best treatment period, the prognosis will be poor, and some even really become “difficult disease”. The effectiveness of acupuncture and physiotherapy in treating facial palsy is not denied, but the basic treatment should be hormones, and the facial nerve edema should be eliminated at the first time of onset. “Of course, even after taking the above methods, there are still a very small number of patients who have difficulty recovering and can be considered for facial nerve decompression, which means cutting open the bone canal to release the compression on the facial nerve, and then using medication.” Facial palsy can be triggered by cold stimulation Facial palsy is divided into central facial palsy and peripheral facial palsy. More than 75 percent of clinical facial palsy belongs to peripheral facial palsy. “Among the peripheral facial palsy, 80 percent are Bell facial palsy.” Gala Yuwei introduced, Bell facial palsy, also known as idiopathic facial palsy, the cause is not very clear, there are generally no special signs, the onset is sudden, the course of the disease progresses quickly, often within 2 to 3 days of the appearance of one side of the facial nerve dysfunction (bilateral occasionally seen). Patients may have herpes or pain around the ear or in the external ear canal. Clinical experience shows that facial palsy may be triggered by taking a cold shower, prolonged air conditioning, experiencing cold stimulation, or sudden mood swings. Especially when the body is overly tired and encounters the above-mentioned situations, the possibility of facial palsy is higher, which may be related to a person’s decreased immunity. “Every year around the Spring Festival, there is a significant increase in the number of facial palsy patients, which is related to the cold weather on the one hand, and may be related to people being overworked during the holidays or long-distance travel on the other.” In general, facial palsy is not fatal, but the disease can seriously affect a person’s quality of life and cause certain psychological problems for the patient. Facial palsy is not age-specific, but Bell’s facial palsy is more common in young and middle-aged people between the ages of 15 and 45. This group is in school and work, and facial palsy may seriously affect their social life, which can lead to psychological problems and even mental illness. It can be said that facial palsy is much more harmful to the patient psychologically than physically. Clinically, almost all patients with facial palsy carry some psychological problems, they are afraid to meet people, they do not want to interact with others, and some of them are emotionally irritable. Therefore, for patients with facial palsy, it is necessary to treat the physical disease as well as to provide psychological guidance to help them establish confidence in overcoming the disease so that they can actively cooperate with the treatment.