Infrared thermography and meridian-effect evidence and explanation in Bell's palsy patients treated by moxibustion at the Hegu (LI4) acupoint: Overall regulation or a specific target?

Ling Guan, Gaobo Li, Yiling Yang, Xiufang Deng, Peisi Cai, Ling Guan, Gaobo Li, Yiling Yang, Xiufang Deng, Peisi Cai

Abstract

Subjects with Bell's palsy and healthy individuals were treated with moxibustion thermal stimulation on the Hegu (LI4) acupoint; an infrared thermal imaging system was used to observe facial-temperature changes. Bell's palsy patients developed low or high temperatures at the affected side, with poor symmetry. Healthy people showed high temperatures on the forehead, medial angle of the eye, nasal ala and around the lips, but low temperatures on bilateral cheeks, thus forming a "T-type hot area" in the face, with good temperature symmetry. Moxibustion treatment for 11 minutes significantly improved high asymmetry in temperature in the faces of Bell's palsy patients. This evidence indicates that moxibustion treatment on Hegu enables increases in facial temperatures in healthy people and Bell's palsy patients, especially around the lips. Moxibustion stimulation at the Hegu not only improves the global circulation but also has specific effects on the lips in Bell's palsy patients, but the underlying mechanism needs further investigation.

Keywords: Bell's palsy; face; infrared; moxibustion; neural regeneration; skin temperature.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Facial infrared thermography data of healthy people (A–B) and Bell's palsy (BP) patients (C–F) before and after moxibustion treatment. Before moxibustion treatment, BP patients showed high or low temperatures at the affected side, with an asymmetric bilateral temperature. The control group showed high temperatures at the forehead, inner canthus, nasal ala, and mouth corner, but low temperatures at bilateral cheeks, with good symmetry in bilateral temperature. After moxibustion treatment, in BP patients with a high temperature at the affected side, the temperature at the unaffected side was increased; in BP patients with a low temperature at the affected side, the temperature in the low-temperature area was increased, with symmetry of bilateral temperatures. Moxibustion at Hegu (LI4) significantly increased temperatures at the mouth and nose in healthy people. Normal facial blood vessels (G) were distributed along the forehead, inner canthus, nasal ala, and lips.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the maximum temperature around the lips in the two groups after moxibustion treatment at Hegu (LI4). The peak in the control group occurred 12–20 minutes after moxibustion treatment whereas that in the Bell's palsy group occurred 6–16 minutes after moxibustion treatment. Frequency (n) refers to the number of cases reaching a peak at a certain time point.

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