Acupuncture at jingming, chengqi and taichong points for facial neuritis complicated with epiphora: A narrative review

Facial neuritis, also known as Bell's palsy, is the most common cause of acute unilateral peripheral facial paralysis. When the orbicularis oculi muscle or the lacrimal apparatus is affected, epiphora can develop through several routes. These include a failed blink-driven lacrimal pump, reflex tearing from lagophthalmos, synkinetic crocodile tears, and lower-lid ectropion. In Chinese medicine, this condition is often treated with acupuncture at Jingming (BL1), Chengqi (ST1) and Taichong (LR3). The first two are periocular points, and Taichong is a distal Liver-channel point. We found no study that tested this combination or used epiphora as an outcome. This narrative review therefore summarizes the adjacent evidence, based on randomized trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, neuroimaging studies and case reports on acupuncture for peripheral facial paralysis and its ocular sequelae, published mainly between 2021 and 2026. Acupuncture, and electroacupuncture in particular, shows a consistent but modest benefit for facial paralysis overall. Most of this evidence, however, is of low or very low certainty, and no retrieved study used a validated lacrimal outcome. The literature supports the anatomical and theoretical rationale of the three-point combination. It does not support an efficacy claim. A prospective, assessor-blinded trial with objective lacrimal measures is the necessary next step.