Comprehensive Korean Medicine Treatment for Benign Essential Blepharospasm in a Patient Responding Poorly to Botulinum Toxin Treatment

Abstract

Benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) is a condition/disease which involves involuntary muscle contractions causing the eye to repetitively close, making it impossible for the patient to perform daily activities. This study reports Korean medicine treatment of a rare case BEB in a 34-year-old male patient whose symptoms showed minimal improvement following botulinum toxin injection (the standard treatment). Acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and herbal medicine treatment for 11 days resulted in clinical improvement for all symptoms as assessed by using the Jankovic Rating Scale, Blepharospasm Disability Index, numerical rating scale, duration of spasms lasting more than 1 hour per day, and number of spasms lasting less than 1 minute per day. This case report suggests that comprehensive Korean medicine treatment could be a treatment option for BEB in patients who do not respond well to botulinum toxin injection.