What is Bell’s palsy?
Most commonly, Bell’s palsy is experienced as irritation or damage to the nerves that control the movement of muscles in your face. When there’s damage to these nerves, some of the face muscles can be weak or are unable to be used at all. This will usually be seen as drooping on one side of the face.
If we are able to pinpoint what event or events caused the onset of Bell’s palsy for an individual, then there are several effective natural treatment options that are not used in western medicine.
Why some people develop Bell’s palsy
A few primary causes of Bell’s palsy are:
- surgery,
- a blow to the face, or
- a blow to the head
Another common cause of Bell's palsy is when a person has experienced long-term exposure to chemical toxins or heavy metals. This kind of toxicity issue can happen because the body had on-going exposure to harsh chemicals throughout life. After years of build up, then body is overwhelmed by toxins, which can act out by affecting the nerves.
A common reason for Bell’s palsy
The most common cause of Bell’s palsy is actually a virus. More specifically, facial nerve damage can be allowed by inhibiting a fever. What that means is when you get a virus, the only way for the virus to be cleared from your nervous system is through a fever. So in this instance, a fever is an important part of helping the body kick out the virus and be healthy again. But unfortunately, in our culture it’s become common for cold and flu viruses to be treated with an antibiotic.
For example, many people suffering from Bell’s palsy at one point or another came down with a fever or cold. To treat the fever or cold, this person was given an antibiotic or they decided to treat the fever with Ibuprofen, Advil, or another fever-reducing medicine. Instead of helping long term, this actually blocks the fever from killing the virus located around the nerves. This allows the virus to multiply within the nerves causing inflammation and damage to the nerve function in that area.
How natural medicine can help
At Hope Clinic we begin by identifying the possible causes or contributing factors of that individual’s Bell’s palsy. There is no need to treat the Bell’s palsy directly. When the contributing factors are addressed, the nerves heal and the palsy disappears.
If we are able to determine what originally caused the Bell’s palsy, then there are usually quite a few options for helping a person with Bell’s palsy. If you or someone you love has Bell’s palsy, encourage them to come to our next Hope Class or schedule an appointment to come see Dr. Brad.