Bell's palsy

[gcoe]

Hi jjose_01

I am not sure if I quite understand your last point. So my answer might not be what you are looking for. However here goes:

What I was really saying is what things to consider now that we have this disappointing but inconclusive evidence. It is a matter of finding a way forward. I am not claiming to be an authority on the matter. As health science professionals I think we have to weigh up the evidence - sometimes we need to come to a consensus as to how to provide the best practice we can and sometimes we need to do this individually.

You know the clinical practice you work in, not me. I am sure there are expectations about what you should provide that I am unaware of.

Good evidence-based practice these days includes taking into account available research evidence, your own clinical experience and also patient preferences.

I look at evidence from research as providing us with greater knowledge and to ultimately be better practitioners. Evidence tells us what treatments to discard, what treatments to keep, how better to apply treatments and opens new avenues for new treatments and for treating conditions we would may not have in the past. All this can be quite unsettling for us practitioners and one thing about the nature of research is that it rarely spells out exactly what we should do. With this knowledge comes greater wisdom on how to act but ultimately there remains some uncertainty and it is up to us to interpret the findings and apply them to practice.

A clinical guideline written by physios (that takes into account the evidence from systematic reviews and clinical trials, clinical experts opinions and also what patients experiences with treatment) would be of great help in the long term. However as there aren't many good quality trials to examine there probably isn't much point to a guideline just yet. The area of practice hasn't attracted that much attention by good researchers.

So what I was really saying is suggesting what to consider as well as give you an opinion of what I might do. So what do you think you will do the next time you have a patient with Bell's Palsy?