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has been in wide use in Europe
since the 1940's. Since that time it has been taught
and practiced safely around the world with great success
and minimal negative effects. It is very effective
in treating a wide variety of conditions by using injections
into nerve sites, acupuncture points, scars, muscle
trigger points and other tissues to relieve pain and
dysfunction throughout the body.
Nerves need to flow freely for optimal body function
to occur. The autonomic nervous system unconsciously
controls all body functions such as heart rate, digestion,
perspiration, breathing, blood flow and just about anything
else that occurs without your conscious direction. When
nerve flow is interfered with, then the nervous system
regulation of connected body parts is compromised. This
compromise can result in poor function, pain, disability
and disease. The purpose of neural therapy is to
unblock the interference to normal functioning by using
very specific injections into the areas of disturbance.
The injections contain sterile homeopathic medicines
and/or a local anesthetic such as procaine. The sites
of injection are determined by your history of trauma
and surgery, location of symptoms, autonomic patterns
or through applied kinesiology methods.
Any stress on the body, whether physical, psychological
or toxic, will activate the sympathetic nervous system
and create what is referred to as “a fight or
flight response”. This could be the result of
a car accident, surgery, emotional distress, fear, toxic
exposure or any threat or perceived threat to life or
of injury. In a natural healing response, once the stress
is removed, the nervous system should reset itself.
Unfortunately, for many people the modern stresses are
so great and continuous, there may be no chance for
the body to return itself to normal. A local area
then becomes locked into a constant fight or flight
or “freeze” state. This area becomes a disturbance
field and can for many years interfere with the normal
nervous system regulation in the body. A very common
example of this would be a whiplash injury.
Often a few chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture treatments
or physiotherapy will alleviate the symptoms. Frequently,
these and other treatments do not help and a person
finds themselves in a chronic pain situation. This type
of trauma not only damages muscles, ligaments, joints
and tendons, it also injures the sympathetic nervous
system chain that lies at the front of the neck. Many
years after an injury, a doctor skilled in neural therapy
can identify the nerve ganglion or site that is holding
the charge and normalize it with neural therapy injection.
The patient can then begin to experience a healing response.
Specific homeopathic preparations, chelating agents,
vitamins and/or local anesthetics are used in the injection
solution. The homeopathic medicine is specific for the
area being treated, whether it is for organ tissue,
nerve, muscles and joints or trauma. An injected anesthetic
will cause a nerve to be numbed by changing the positive
and negative charges on the membrane of the nerve tissue
so that no sensation can be passed along such as when
your lips become numb after a visit to the dentist.
In neural therapy the intention is not to anaesthetize
or numb the nerve, but rather to change the membrane
potential temporarily, with the expectation that when
the anesthetic wears off, the membrane charges and nerve
function will return to normal. Think about how your
computer occasionally is overloaded with too many programs
running and windows open. It begins to malfunction,
running slowly and freezing up. Usually the first thing
you do is shut everything down and reboot the computer.
After that it will work fine again. In the same way
Neural Therapy is like rebooting the “body
computer”, the autonomic nervous system, to reset
regulation and normalize function. Homeopathic
medicines assist in the local healing response.
Neural therapy is a nervous system regulation therapy,
so just about anything short of cancer and metabolic
disease can be positively affected. The more common
conditions that benefit from it include: back and neck
pain, posttraumatic conditions, chronic pain from whiplash
and head injury, joint pain, muscle pain, and athletic
injuries. Jaw and head pain, post-surgical pain (including
dental), digestive disturbances, sinusitis, hypothyroid,
muscle injuries, organ dysfunctions and scar disturbances
also benefit from neural therapy.
In the course of naturopathic treatment, neural therapy
is only one part of an integrated treatment program
that may address many other areas affecting well being.
As one area moves into healing it is important to address
the deeper layers as they arise. Old pains may surface,
pain may move around. Often there are emotional charges
held in the neural focus and the physical release may
possibly be accompanied by a memory or emotional response.
This is a normal indication of a healing response.
Frequently, therapies such as spinal adjustments or
acupuncture that have had limited success can be more
effective when applied at the same time as, or after
the disturbance fields have been cleared. The effectiveness
of psychotherapy can be enhanced. Detoxification may
be required to improve autonomic control. Environmental
or heavy metal toxins can interfere with the nervous
system function and if identified should be cleared.
The naturopathic approach is to treat the body as
a whole and to integrate all the systems to optimize
a healing response.
Scar tissue is a common cause of disturbance fields
and any scar whether a small one from a childhood fall,
from dental surgery or a major post surgical scar will
set up interference. A scar has an electric charge about
five times that of normal skin and can disrupt nerve
flow. Scars that cross acupuncture meridian channels
can block energy to those related organs and body parts.
A scar will hold injured or cut fascia, muscles and
skin together, but it is not as flexible as the original
tissue, so the underlying tissues cannot move as freely.
George Goodheart D.C. uses the following analogy: “If
someone pulls down hard on the left side of the shirt
you are wearing, it makes it more difficult for you
to raise your left arm. Treating your left arm would
do little to relieve the decreased range of motion of
your arm as long as the tension is exerted on your shirt.
Loosening the tension on your shirt hem, however, does
effectively produce a marked increase in the range of
motion of your left arm because you are getting to the
cause of your problem and fixing it.” The
treatment of scars with neural therapy, even decades
old ones, has consistently been an important factor
in increasing mobility, reducing pain and improving
movement and function.
Frequently a major component of chronic pain is tight,
contracted or spastic muscle that is resistant to stretch,
massage or mobilization therapies. Muscles are held
in contraction by nerve impulses to the local neuromuscular
junctions. The result is that perpetual inappropriate
impulses cause a continuous muscle contraction. By
injecting the affected neuromuscular trigger point,
it is possible to break the ongoing pattern of spasm,
allowing muscle to release and eventual return to normal
function.
Evidence indicates that Trigger Point Injection:
- plus intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate may be safe and effective for treating knee pain caused by osteoarthritis;
- when performed as a sole treatment, may be effective in relieving the symptoms of chronic head, neck, and shoulder pain, whiplash syndrome, and cervicogenic headache;
- simple injectants such as saline and sterile water are safer than botox and are equally effective.
Nobody likes to get needle injections, especially into
painful or vulnerable areas. The amount of discomfort
depends on the type of treatment that is being done.
Injections into nerve points are more uncomfortable
than painful. Acupuncture points and subcutaneous injections
may prick. Scar treatments may be painful. Trigger point
treatments by their nature are injections into already
tender areas, and a short painful "twitch"
response is actually a good sign. No matter which of
these reactions you experience, they last only a moment
and any discomfort is gone immediately. As many
patients say: "short term pain for long term gain".
It usually requires about six sessions to determine
what benefit neural therapy will have. Often there is
a one or two day improvement and then the old symptoms
return. Sometimes the improvements occur gradually and
in conjunction with other therapies. Occasionally emotional
blocks are released and strong emotional responses may
occur, this is a healthy sign. As we work through a
history of compensation, other body parts may re-experience
pain and discomfort, again this is a positive sign.
The negative effects tend to be of a temporary nature
and may precede improvements. Mild bruising may occur
and may be unavoidable especially with scar and occasionally
with trigger point treatments. Occasionally an injected
trigger point may hurt for a day, it is relieved with
an ice pack. Some temporary numbness may occur that
passes quickly. Some patients feel temporarily light
headed. Some patients report that they feel worse for
a few days, followed by a great relief in symptoms.
Each person has his or her own individual response.
Report any effects to your doctor.
11/3/03hsb
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