In my personal experience during the last 8 years while managing a number of patients suffering from Wikipedia reference-linkBell's palsy, the sooner you start the physiotherapeutic intervention, the better, quick and good results you may get. The first two to three weeks for patient with Bell's palsy are very important regarding the treatment point of view. If you start treatment with modalities to reduce the nerve swelling just like doctors use corticosteroids, you get very good results. In my personal experience majority of my patients recovered within the first two to three weeks. Some needed treatment for one and half month. And very few took three months to recover. However, once the pateint comes to you after 2 to three weeks after developing the paralysis, the chances of quick recovery are not as good as you observe with patients who come right after developing the palsy within the first week.

The role of electrical stimulation is important right from beginning. ES prevents muscle atrophy from being disuse and later in process of nerve degeneration due to trophic changes during long period of paralysis, being most important in maintaining the facial symmetry. So electrical stimulation should be used during the period of paralysis of muscles until such time their re innervation arrives. When the re innervation arrives or re functioning of the muscles starts, one should replace the electrical stimulation with active exerises or muscles re education exercises or PNF exercises to re train the muscles their function.