Objective To observe the effect of adjuvant therapy of warm acupuncture at Yifeng（SJ 17） on facial paralysis with periauricular pain. Methods A total of 120 patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group

with 60 cases in each group. Both groups were treated with health education and drug-based treatment. The control group received oral prednisone acetate tablets 30 mg once a day for the first week. Chengjiang（RN24）

Cuanzhu（BL2）

Yangbai（GB14）

Taiyang（EX-HN5）

Jiache（ST6）

Dicang（ST4）

Yingxiang（LI20）

and Hegu（LI4） on the healthy side were given electroacupuncture for 30 minutes each time

once every other day from the second week. In the first week of the observation group

Yifeng（SJ 17） on the affected side was treated with warm acupuncture

30 minutes each time

once a day

In the second week

warm acupuncture at Yifeng（SJ 17） was changed once every other day

followed by electro-acupuncture treatment. The acupoint selection and method were the same as those in the control group. The treatment course of both groups was 4 weeks. Before treatment and 1 week after treatment

the visual analogue scale（VAS） was used to evaluate the periauricular pain of both groups. Before treatment and after 4 weeks treatment

the House-Brackmann（H-B） facial nerve function rating scale and facial disability index（FDI） scale were used to evaluate the recovery of facial function

clinical efficacy and records adverse reactions of both groups. Results VAS scores of patients in both groups were better than those before treatment（P<0.01） after 1 week

and the comparison between groups was no statistically significant（P>0.05）. Compared with those before treatment

the FDI of physical function and FDI of social life function of both groups of patients were improved after 4 weeks of treatment（P<0.01）. Compared with the control group after treatment

both index scores of the observation group improved more（P<0.05）. After 4 weeks of treatment

the H-B facial nerve function classification of both groups was impvoed

and the clinical curative rate of the observation group was 61.4%

higher than that of the control group（41.4%

P<0.05）. During the treatment

the observation group had no serious adverse reactions or events. Nine cases of acne

2 cases of gastrointestinal reactions and 2 cases of dry mouth and increased sweating occurred in the control group. Conclusion Aiming at the facial neuritis with periauricular pain

Yifeng（SJ 17） warming acupuncture is as effective as oral prednisone acetate tablets in reducing periauricular pain during the acute period. The combination of warming acupuncture at Yifeng（SJ 17） with conventional electroacupuncture and basic treatment can be more effective to improve facial expression muscle function and social life function of patients in the recovery period.