Acpuncture For Bell's Palsy? Just Ask Angelina Jolie

Bell’s Palsy comes without warning. One day, one side of the face becomes weak and/or numb, and within a few days the affected person may experience severe drooping and temporary paralysis. It can last up to six months, depending on the severity.

The cause of Bell’s Palsy is still not totally known, though experts have an idea—that the seventh cranial nerve, the nerve that is responsible for allowing us to make the facial expressions that we do, becomes afflicted with swelling or inflammation.

As we know, swelling and inflammation are a result of blockages in the body’s meridians, causing energy, or qi, to become stagnant. Acupuncture is uniquely suited to regulating the body’s energy by opening up the blockages, resulting in lessening of inflammation and thus the pain and discomfort associated with it.

While there is no recognized cure for Bell’s Palsy, acupuncture can help ease the symptoms and speed up the recovery. But don’t just take our word for it. Actress, director and philanthropist Angelina Jolie told Vanity Fair about how a number of stressors affected her health. “Sometimes women in families put themselves last,” she said, “until it manifests itself in their own health.” One of the conditions that Jolie got? Bell’s Palsy. However, she credits acupuncture for “her full recovery from the condition.”

While acupuncture is only a part of a healthy routine and treatment for various disorders like Bell’s Palsy, it’s a big piece of the puzzle that’s always there to help.

Celebrities Turning to Acupuncture to Help Relieve Chronic Pain

 In Lady Gaga’s recently released Netflix documentary “Gaga: Five Foot Two” the star is seen at her most raw and vulnerable, navigating her stardom, personal life, and inner battles. At the forefront of her struggles appears to be her chronic pain stemming from fibromyalgia and a past traumatic injury.

Typically a bubbly, high energy star with dynamic dance moves on stage, Gaga is shown in the documentary writhing in pain, sobbing through spasms and visiting with doctors and other therapeutic professionals. To help combat the pain, she is also seen receiving acupuncture treatment in a teaser for the documentary.

Acupuncture for chronic pain isn’t a new phenomenon, but thanks to celebrities like Lady Gaga and others who are opening up about their own personal and physical struggles, it’s becoming more and more popular, which can only be a good thing.

In fact, Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker shared a photo on Instagram just this week of himself receiving facial acupuncture for his painful Trigeminal Neuralgia, a condition that affects the nerve responsible for carrying sensation from your face to the brain.

Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver is also quoted as telling the Daily Mail in 2012, “The body is an amazing instrument with great self-healing properties, and things like acupuncture and massage help the body regain strength and health. I’d much rather that than pump my body full of chemicals.”

So, how exactly does acupuncture help provide relief from chronic pain?  In the simplest terms, the insertion of acuneedles in specific meridians and points can help to stimulate secretion of endorphins (natural pain killing hormones) as well as the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter said to help enhance an overall sense of well-being.

Acupuncture also helps to release any blocked qi, which can help to stimulate a natural, internal healing response of inflammation and other pain-inducing physical conditions.

Whether you suffer from headaches or general discomfort from tension, musculoskeletal pain or pain stemming from illness or disease, acupuncture is a holistic and natural method of pain management and relief.