ABSTRACT
Purpose
To compare the results of treatment of facial paralysis after ischemic stroke in the acute phase with and without the use of Kinesio Taping.
Methods
Experimental case-control study with 46 patients with facial paralysis after stroke, randomly assigned to two groups for treatment of facial mimicry: the case group underwent orofacial myofunctional therapy and used Kinesio Taping on the zygomatic major and minor muscles while the control group only received orofacial myofunctional therapy. To assess facial paralysis, the House and Brackmann scale and the movement incompetence protocol were used for facial measurements. All participants underwent 12 days of treatment for facial mimicry. The analysis considered movement incompetence by means of the face measurements and the degree of impairment of facial paralysis, checking whether age might have influenced the results. Association analyses were performed and the significance level adopted was 5%.
Results
both groups showed an improvement in facial asymmetry after treatment, movement incompetence was lower in all facial measurements, and the improvement in the severity of facial paralysis was similar, with no statistical difference between treatments.
Conclusion
Both the exclusive orofacial myofunctional therapy and the one combined with Kinesio Taping are therapeutic strategies that promote improvement in post-stroke facial paralysis.
Keywords:
Facial paralysis; Kinesio; Stroke; Rehabilitation; Speech Therapy
Thumbnail
Thumbnail
