Dear Sarah
Thanks for being the only one to respond with a specific idea thus far. I'm not sure if this is due to massive disinterest or a similar level of unease about helpful interventions. How would you define 'valid' in the context of your own reply? I'm not asking this to be 'funny', but simply to ask whether (as is so often the case with medical interventions) people have been doing something for years makes it OK.
Robert
----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah Fern Striffler
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 02:48
Subject: Re: Bell's Palsy
Massage of the facial mm as far as you can gather is a bit too broad to respond. The physio may have been performing facial PNF, which is considered a valid Rx for partially denervated mm.
Sarah
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Treharne Jones
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 7:30 AM
Subject: Bell's Palsy
A relative of one of my patient's had a diagnosis of Bell's Palsy and was referred to their local teaching hospital in London. (The relative lives 200 miles from my patient). She has been given a course of oral steroids and then consulted a physiotherapist who undertook some sort of treatment which involved massage of the facial muscles (as far as I can gather). From the medical point of view the use of steroids in this instance is pretty debatable, and results only from the doctor's need to 'do something', without any evidence that it makes any difference to the condition itself. Can the same be said of the facial massage by the physio? (Please, no anecdotal evidence "I had this patient once.........")
Robert
Dr Robert Treharne Jones
GP and Trainer, Walnut Lodge, Torquay
