Kabat Rehabilitation Versus Kinesiology Taping in Bell's Palsy

February 21, 2026 updated by: Sidra Zaman, University of Lahore

Effects of Kabat Rehabilitation Versus Kinesiology Taping Combined With Conventional Therapy on Facial Asymmetry and Functional Disability in Patients With Unilateral Bell's Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aims to compare the effects of Kabat rehabilitation versus kinesiology taping, both combined with conventional therapy, on facial asymmetry and functional disability in patients with unilateral Bell's palsy. A total of 38 participants will be recruited from the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital. Participants will be randomly assigned into two groups using a lottery method. Outcomes will be assessed using the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System and the Facial Disability Index at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This single-blinded randomized clinical trial will be conducted at the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital, Lahore. Participants aged 30-50 years diagnosed with unilateral Bell's palsy will be recruited using purposive sampling. After obtaining informed consent, 38 eligible participants will be randomly allocated into two parallel groups using the lottery method.

Group A will receive conventional therapy (facial massage and electrical muscle stimulation) combined with Kabat rehabilitation using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques.

Group B will receive conventional therapy combined with kinesiology taping applied according to a standardized protocol targeting affected facial muscles.

Treatment will be administered for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week, with each session lasting approximately 40 minutes. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, at 4 weeks, and at 8 weeks. Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 27.0.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

38

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab Province
      • Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan
        • University of Lahore Teaching Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Age between 30-50 years Both genders Unilateral Bell's palsy House-Brackmann grade greater than 3 Sufficient physical and mental ability to follow instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

Facial skin lesions or contraindications for procedures Cranial or facial trauma within past 3 months Prior episodes of facial paralysis Craniofacial deformities or degenerative diseases Head and neck malignancy Active infection History of upper motor neuron lesion

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Kabat Rehabilitation + Conventional Therapy
Participants will receive conventional therapy (massage and EMS) combined with Kabat rehabilitation (PNF techniques) for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week.
Other: Kabat Rehabilitation
Kabat rehabilitation will be administered using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques. Manual resistance will be applied to stimulate contraction of affected facial muscles through three fulcrum points (upper, intermediate, and lower). Each muscle group (frontalis, corrugator supercilii, orbicularis oculi, procerus, orbicularis oris, and mentalis) will perform 10 repetitions for 2 sets. The Kabat component will last approximately 20 minutes per session. Treatment will be provided 5 sessions per week for 8 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
Experimental: Kinesiology Taping + Conventional Therapy
Participants will receive conventional therapy combined with kinesiology taping for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week.
Other: Conventional Facial Therapy
Conventional therapy will consist of facial massage and electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). Massage techniques will include light stroking, tapping, and kneading of affected facial muscles for approximately 5 minutes. Electrical muscle stimulation will be delivered using interrupted galvanic current with a pulse width of 150 μs, frequency of 1-10 Hz, and intensity of 2-5 mA for 15 minutes. Small surface electrodes will be placed on key facial muscles including frontalis, zygomaticus major, orbicularis oris, and mentalis. Total duration of conventional therapy will be approximately 20 minutes per session.
Other Names:
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation
  • Facial Massage

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Facial Asymmetry (Sunnybrook Facial Grading System)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks
Scores range from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate better facial symmetry.
Baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Functional Disability (Facial Disability Index - FDI)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks
Assesses physical and social well-being related to facial function. Higher scores indicate better function.
Baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Lahore

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Atif, M. M., Hussain, K., Naeem, I., Asghar, Z., Batool, F., Butt, S., & Khalil, A. (2024). Prevalence of Recurrent Bell's Palsy: Prevalence of Recurrent Bell's Palsy. Pakistan Journal of Health Sciences, 50-54.
  • Athawale, V. K., Bawiskar, D. P., & Phansopkar, P. A. (2021). Rehabilitation of a Patient with Bell's Palsy. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 10(20), 1551-1555.
  • Amjad, A., Iqbal, M. H., Jamil, A., Kamran, S., Maqbool, S., & Akbar, M. (2024). Comparative Effects of Kabat Rehabilitation and Kinesiotaping on Functional Disability, Synkinesis and Patient Satisfaction in Patients with Bell's Palsy. Journal Riphah College of Rehabilitation Sciences, 12(1).
  • Alqahtani, S. Y., Almalki, Z. A., Alnafie, J. A., Alnemari, F. S., AlGhamdi, T. M., AlGhamdi, D. A., Albogami, L. O., & Ibrahim, M. (2024). Recurrent Bell's palsy: A comprehensive analysis of associated factors and outcomes. Ear, Nose & Throat Journal, 01455613241301230.
  • Alanazi, F., Kashoo, F. Z., Alduhishy, A., Aldaihan, M., Ahmad, F., & Alanazi, A. (2022). Incidence rate, risk factors, and management of Bell's palsy in the Qurayyat region of Saudi Arabia. PeerJ, 10, e14076.
  • Al Najim, M. M., & Marah, L. D. H. A. (2025). Identifying Key Risk Factors for Bell's Palsy and Insights from a Retrospective Analysis. Central Asian Journal of Medical and Natural Science, 6(2), 586-593.
  • Al-Hasan, H. K. J., Al-Salim, A. A., & Haji, S. A. (2023). Prevalence of facial nerve palsy in the neuro-medicine private clinic. Romanian JouRnal of neuRology, 22(2), 137.
  • Ahmed, S., Shahid, A., & Waheed, A. (2023). Effectiveness of Kabat Exercises along with Mirror Therapy in Bell's Palsy. Journal of Health and Rehabilitation Research, 3(2), 1288-1293.
  • Adhikari, S. P., Chaudhary, M., & Dev, R. (2020). Kabat interventions integrated with facial expressive and functional exercises for better and speedy recovery in bell's palsy; a pre-post design. Journal of Chitwan Medical College, 10(4), 71-76.
  • Abioke, U. B., Anosike, W., Olaniyi, A. O., Okwuowulu, I. L., Mandal, M., Eze, C. Y., Abioke, U., Anosike, W. O., Okwuowulu, I., & Eze, C. Y. (2025). Physiotherapy Management of Bell's Palsy in an Elderly Patient: A Case Report. Cureus, 17(7).

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 11, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 13, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 12, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 21, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 21, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UOL/IREB/25/15/03/35

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared because this study was conducted as an academic research project. The informed consent obtained from participants did not include provisions for public data sharing, and the dataset contains sensitive personal health information. Data will be stored securely and

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Facial Paralysis

Clinical Trials on Kabat Rehabilitation

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Serbia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe