Objective To explore the effect of acupuncture at different time points on acute peripheral facial paralysis.Methods The clinical data of 97 patients with acute peripheral facial paralysis admitted to the Nantong Fourth People's Hospital from June 2021 to June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.According to the timing of acupuncture treatment,they were divided into observation group(n=46)and control group(n=51).The observation group received early treatment(within 24 h),and the control group received late treatment (within 1～7 d).The therapeutic effect,symptom score,symptom remission time,quality of life and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results There was no significant difference in the total effective rate between the two groups (P＞0.05).The improvement time of frontal striae disappearance,expression muscle movement,eyelid closure and mouth skew symptom in observation group were shorter than those in control group,the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the scores of facial expression,frontal stripe disappearance,mouth skew and eyelid closure between the two groups before treatment (P＞0.05).After treatment,the facial expression and frontal striae disappearance scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group,and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between the two groups in the eight dimensions of 36-item short form survey (SF-36)before treatment (P＞0.05).After 1 month of follow-up,the SF-36 scores of the two groups were higher than those before treatment,with statistical significance (P＜0.05),the scores of physical function,health limitation,vitality and mental health of the observation group were higher than those of the control group,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the total incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P＞0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine is an effective method to treat peripheral facial paralysis,and early treatment is more ideal in improving symptoms and quality of life of patients.