Bell′s palsy in early childhood: A series of six cases

Background and Objective: Bell's palsy is more uncommon in children than in adults and the diagnosis is always made by exclusion. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study of 5 years, we diagnosed six children of Bell's palsy in age group between 4 months and 48 months. The parents were reassured and prognosis was explained in detail to them, and physiotherapy along with multivitamins as placebo was prescribed on outdoor basis. None of the children was prescribed with oral steroid. Results: All patients showed improvement with complete recovery in 67% cases over mean duration of 6.5 weeks, while partial recovery was noticed in the remaining 33% cases. Conclusion: In this retrospective study, we find that physiotherapy along with multivitamins as placebo without steroids is an effective alternative treatment for childhood Bell's palsy.