Warm acupuncture combined with precise meridian sinew needling for refractory peripheral facial paralysis: a propensity score-matched retrospective study on clinical efficacy and infrared thermal imaging.

Refractory peripheral facial paralysis (RPFP) affects 15%-20% of patients with facial palsy, leading to poor recovery and reduced quality of life. Current treatments yield limited efficacy, and objective evidence for acupuncture-based therapies remains scarce. We addressed this gap by conducting a p