Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical effect of fire needle in the treatment of central facial paralysis and the possible mechanism. Methods A total of 108 patients with central facial paralysis were randomly divided into control group (conventional acupuncture) and treatment group (fire needle therapy) using a random number table, with 54 patients in each group. The two groups were compared in terms of clinical outcome, modified House-Brackmann (MHBN) score, and facial disability index (FDI) before and after treatment. Results There was a significant difference in the distribution of clinical outcomes between the two groups (P<0.05). Both groups had a significant increase in MHBN score after treatment (P<0.05), and the treatment group had a significantly greater increase than the control group (P<0.05). Both groups had significant increases in all FDI scores after treatment (P<0.05), and compared with the control group, the treatment group had significantly greater improvements in the difficulties of eating, drinking, lacrimation, and brushing teeth or gargling (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with conventional acupuncture, fire needle can effectively improve the sensory and motor function in patients with central facial paralysis and brings more benefits to the recovery of facial nerve function, especially in patients with refractory facial paralysis.