A Case of Palpebral Hemispasm Successfully Treated with Orengedokuto

Abstract

We present a 35-year-old male with palpebral hemispasm, which often occurred while at work. Because there were no ophthalmological findings, he consulted our clinic to receive Kampo therapy. He easily became fatigued and he had subchondral resistance and discomfort (kyo-kyo-kuman), so we treated him with saikokeishito and shakuyakukanzoto. However, they were ineffective, and therefore we reconsidered his symptoms.
Although he complained of fatigue, he was well built and had been a heavy drinker until a few years before presenting. Furthermore, he easily blushed and sweated in the upper body during the daytime, and his palpebral hemispasm often occurred during this blushing and sweating, and was accompanied by headache. We considered that this represented an excess-heat pattern rather than a deficiency pattern, and prescribed orengedokuto. His symptoms improved, and disappeared after six months.
There has been no detailed report of orengedokuto for the treatment of palpebral hemispasm. Orengedokuto may be useful for palpebral hemispasm in the context of symptoms of excess-heat pattern, such as blushing, sweating in the upper body and headache.