A BSTRACT Background and Objectives: Peripheral facial palsy (Bell’s palsy) is an idiopathic, unilateral facial weakness resulting from dysfunction of the facial nerve. There is a lack of sufficient literature on the effectiveness of Kabat therapy, motor imagery (MI), and Mime therapy in facilitating facial muscle recovery in patients with Bell’s palsy. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Kabat therapy combined with MI versus Mime therapy in improving facial muscle function in patients with Bell’s palsy. Methodology: A total of 40 patients diagnosed with Bell’s palsy were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: Group A received Kabat therapy along with facial MI, while Group B received Mime therapy. Both groups were also administered conventional electrotherapy. Outcome measures, including the Lip Mobility Index, House-Brackmann (HB) score, and Facial Disability Index (FDI), were assessed before and after a 4-week intervention period. Results and Conclusion: Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA). Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in HB score, FDI, and Lip Mobility Index following the intervention. However, Group A exhibited slightly greater improvement in the social domain of the FDI Scale, indicating a reduction in psychosocial burden and enhanced facial symmetry among patients with Bell’s palsy.
Rajpurohit et al. (Fri,) studied this question.