Jacqueline Diels treatment

[Jessica000]

Hi all,

Happy 2011! Hope that it will be a year of speedy recovery for all!

Anyway I just want to ask about Diel's facial retraining therapy.

I hope to save up money and fly over to her clinic in July this year ( it will be 1 year post op)
I am not sure how my progress will be then but my synkinesis are everywhere now and I hope that it's not too late for a proper therapist to help me fix any lingering problems.

How much does she charge and how long the treatment process will be? Weekly for a long period or daily for a short period?
I am flying over as an international patient. I think that I'll go very very broke

Anyway is synkinesis a sign that the nerve is already working but the muscles are confused or learnt improperly? I've been patiently doing muscle isolation exercises these days after regretting being overly excited with my cheek movement months back. Now my cheek moves with every movement. Irritates the hell out of me.

Hope that everyone else is on a good track of recovery. Press on!

[Cheryl R]

Jessica.     Her usual way is to see a pt for anywhere from a half day to 2-3 days.       Then never need to come back to every 6 mos to a year.                 In the US our insurance frequently pays for some or most of her care so not sure how it works in your case.           Her office can give you the info.      Have you tried emailing just her and asking what she thinks?    She is very nice and might but can't say for sure give you some advice via email.   Have you read the site      www.bellspalsy.ws for some info too?              Do you have her email address?    I can send you it via personal message if you need it.                      If you would end up coming then, one gets a cheaper hospital rate while staying in Madison.          Do you have an appt already as one needs to make it ahead?
Where are you coming from?           Wonder if she would know where might be a closer person for you to see.
       Synkinesis is annoying and hope can get it helped some, what ever way.                   Cheryl R

[Cheryl R]

Jessica, will add more as read your other posts and see where you are at.     Doing too much with some exercises can make the synkinesis worse but also each person is different so hard to exactly say what in your case.      There might be some others esp Debbi who will add more.              My synkinesis is mostly just the eye closing with some movements of of my mouth.      I don't work with it like I should to make slow movements of the eye when the mouth is moving.        I am not the best at explaining it all.      You are not to late for help.       There is no cure but just knowing how to make the muscles work better.       The healing nerve just has the wrong muscle going.           I will go ahead and send you her email address.                      Cheryl R

[Jessica000]

Hi,
I've received the message. Thanks a lot

You said synkinesis is not curable? You mean the nerve will never get to the right muscle anymore? I read that retraining helps and for some, they use botox to aid the retraining process too. I'll be traumatized if it can't be cured..I only had movement for 5 months and synkinesis for 2 months I think.

[Truffles]

Hi,
I've actually been doing nerve retraining with Jackie for 11 years now.  Most people don't continue this long but I keep seeing more and more improvement so.... Anyway, the initial visit is usually a couple days.  She has worked with different therapists from around the world so there may be someone she can recommend that is closer to you.  My insurance covers a lot of the cost, and I have also been getting botox for the last few years.  It has helped tremendously.  Synkenesis can go away as you train your muscles to move without the others.  I can't praise Jackie enough for all the help she has given me.  Saying that, she can only guide you.  You have to put in time every day and sometimes a couple times a day to do the things she recommends, from massage to movements, some of which is very much visualizing things in your mind and translating that to your face if that makes sense.  I have gone from absolutely no movement on the one side of my face, to being able to close my eyes, smile, eat, etc.  Definitely worth checking into.  I wouldn't have anyone who wasn't properly trained in either the therapy, or the botox though.  You want to improve things, not go backwards.  (I actually had a friend who had an AN when he was a teenager and Jackie helped him 17 years later to the point that they removed the gold weights in his eyes.  He sent his insurance company pictures (with my permission of course) of my first 6 months progress and they said that seeing them made them agree to cover the costs.  (Jackie if you read this we love you!) 

[Debbi]

I just want to "ditto" what Truffles said - Jackie totally rocks!  And, she is also SO right when she says that you have to be prepared to do the work.  Facial retraining is a time consuming process, but if you are willling to work hard, you will definitely get results.

Debbi