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EFFECTS OF MYOFEEDBACK AND MIME‐THERAPY ON PERIPHERAL FACIAL PARALYSIS *
Author(s) -
Gelder Ronald S.,
Philippart Stefan M.M.,
Bernard Brigit G.E.S.,
Devriese Pieter P.,
Whiting Harold T.A.,
Wieringen Piet C.W.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207599008247857
Subject(s) - facial symmetry , psychology , rehabilitation , facial paralysis , paralysis , audiology , speech therapy , facial expression , physical therapy , medicine , psychiatry , communication , social psychology
This paper concerns peripheral facial paralysis, its sequelae and the physiotherapeutic treatment thereof. Following a brief description of the symptoms associated with peripheral facial paralysis and its sequelae, two treatment methods are reviewed, namely, myofeedback and mime‐therapy. Next, a description of two research projects is provided; these projects were designed to evaluate the effects of myofeedback and mime‐therapy in the rehabilitation of patients suffering from the sequelae of peripheral facial paralysis. Four patients were treated with visual myofeedback over a 2‐week period and 22 patients with mime‐therapy over a 10‐week period. During pre‐ and posttesting, the patients were photographed and were requested to fill out a social‐psychological questionnaire. The photographs were measured for facial asymmetry and appraised on six rating scales (pleasant/unpleasant, relaxed/tense, active/passive, spontaneous/restrained, not‐handicapped/handicapped, and normal/abnormal) by naive judges. After myofeedback treatment, none of the variables showed significant improvement. Following mime‐therapy, there were no significant changes in the means of the asymmetry measures; however, a significant positive effect was to be seen in the appraisals given by the judges, and measures of self‐judgement were more positive after treatment than before. Finally, the results of both studies are discussed.