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From the Townsend Letter
May 2008

"Even Most Doctors Have Chronic Pain – Who Knew?"
by Stephen Kaufman, DC

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Here's What Happened When a Chiropractor Tried to Show 325 Medical Doctors at American College for Advancement of Medicine How to Stop Chronic Pain in Seconds

"Can chronic pain really be turned off for good by using only simple neurological reflexes?" This is the question several hundred MDs, DOs, and NDs asked at a recent demonstration of Pain Neutralization Technique (PNT)™. The basic premise of PNT (described in detail in Townsend Letter, November 2007)16 is that many chronic pain syndromes are caused by trigger points in muscles.1-5,8-14,17,18,20,23-26,28,29 These trigger points near the patients' symptoms are exquisitely tender when pressed. PNT usually turns off even the most tender trigger points within a few seconds on many patients, using only light pressure on neurological reflexes. No drugs, injections, or instruments are used. Please note that PNT does not treat trigger points as most techniques do;29 rather, its aim is to eliminate them, usually in seconds. (Of course, it doesn't work in every case. But read on.)

At the November 2007 meeting of the American College of Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) in Phoenix, Arizona, we asked how many people in the room had chronic musculoskeletal pain of some kind. More than 75% of the hands went up in this elite group of holistic physicians! Especially popular was chronic upper trapezius pain.

Does Everybody Have Chronically Painful Upper Trapezius Muscles?!!?
The first "patient" to come up was an MD with neck and shoulder pain. On examination, he had an extremely sore and chronic trigger point in his right upper trapezius muscle. This disappeared in less then a minute with PNT! He enthusiastically reported this to the crowd, at which point bedlam broke loose! It seemed as if everyone jumped up to be treated.

Present in the audience was Robert Rowen, MD, who had written an article about PNT in his widely read Second Opinion newsletter. Previously, in reference to a presentation in 2006, Dr. Rowen had said, "An unknown chiropractor spoke about his technique for instantly relieving painful trigger points. What medical doctor would believe such claims? I listened with curiosity and healthy skepticism. Then he performed his technique on many of my esteemed colleagues, including some very famous ones. The majority got immediate relief, even with very long-term chronic problems."21

After successfully eliminating chronic trigger points on several more doctors, the demonstration ended. Not knowing what the protocol was for "ex-speakers," I just sort of wandered out into the hall. Much to my surprise, a huge crowd gathered. Dozens of MDs asked scores of questions and requested treatment.

Many MDs Relieved of Chronic Pain by Pain Neutralization Technique
Joseph Rich, MD, is on the board of directors of ACAM and was among those treated. He wrote, "The day after PNT treatment, my back and sciatic pain disappeared for the first time in five years." Bohdan Lebedowicz, MD, an internist from Mt. Vernon, Illinois, had constant lower abdominal pain following hernia surgery in 2001. His abdomen was extremely tender to palpation. He wrote, "My post-hernia surgical pain was absolutely eradicated in less than a minute (by PNT)."

Hyla Cass, MD, well-known author of Supplement Your Prescription and Natural Highs, wrote, "I obtained immediate relief from chronic recurring neck and back pain. It's not returned, weeks later." Michael Schachter, MD, said, "I had pain in the right lumbro sacral area for years. I felt immediate relief after PNT." Terri Su, MD, of Sebastopol, California, wrote, "I had three whiplashes and decreased R.O.M. even after much chiropractic treatment. After PNT, I had greatly increased R.O.M. Wow!"

Numbness Improves, as Well as Pain
Several MDs, including a rheumatologist and an internist, observed the techniques as we continued treating folks for almost 13 hours. After a few hours, they asked if they could try applying the treatment on the next patient. Each doctor was successful in immediately turning off pain on his or her patient. One woman treated by the rheumatologist had numbness down her right arm. I explained that this condition was easily treated, but we shouldn't expect to see symptomatic improvement after just one treatment. Almost before I completed my sentence, the patient reported that the numbness was gone! (I get embarrassed when I'm wrong, don't you? Well, in this case, it was all right, I guess.)

Consistent Results on Many Volunteers
Dr. Rowen wrote about this demo, "I and at least 40 other doctors witnessed dozens of consecutive resolutions of chronic pain. Had I not seen it, I wouldn't have believed a system based on simple body physiology could take away your pain so quickly."

Gerard Pesca, ND, a naturopathic physician and third-year medical student, wrote, "I observed more than 50 MDs treated with PNT at the ACAM conference. Immediately after the treatment, each doctor said they felt at least 75% to 80% better, and many of them admitted close to 100% improvement. The next day, I was able to catch up with approximately 12 of them and ask how they were doing since the treatment the day before. Eleven of the 12 told me they felt "much better" or "amazingly better."

Here's What Produced Chronic Pain Relief in Seconds
Pain Neutralization Technique is based on simple neurological principles, described in previous articles (available at www.painneutralization.com). Extremely tender trigger points in muscles can be immediately reduced by triggering what's called a "clasp knife reflex" (a.k.a., Golgi tendon organ reflex6,19,22,27) in the muscle. This usually causes a dramatic disappearance of the trigger point that may be causing the patient's pain.

In other words, the practitioner finds a muscle that has a tender point in it close to a patient's symptom (upper trapezius trigger points may cause headaches and neck pain; the piriformis may cause sciatica; the quadratus lumborum for low back pain, etc.) One of the PNT techniques will usually eliminate the muscular tender point, typically in seconds. Often (not always), the patient's symptom will improve or disappear as a result of the treatment.

As reported by many doctors, even chronic, long-term conditions may also improve in minutes. Several treatments are usually needed for permanent improvement, but, in many cases, one treatment is enough. The techniques are so simple they can easily be learned from a DVD.

When PNT was first taught, no one expected to see such rapid symptomatic improvements. The procedures were very effective for eliminating trigger points instantly, but we thought it might take hours or days for the actual symptoms to go away. It was only after seminar attendees volunteered that their chronic pain was gone that it became obvious there was often immediate symptomatic improvement.

Ted Rozema, MD, past president of ACAM and co-author of The Scientific Basis of EDTA Chelation Therapy, was treated at a previous demonstration. He wrote, "I had continuous back pain since fracturing the transverse process of L1-2-3-4 in 1974. After PNT, the pain was completely gone in a few seconds. John Trowbridge, MD, best selling author of The Yeast Syndrome, wrote, "For nine months, I suffered with left sacroiliac/lower lumbar pain. With just one session of PNT, my low back pain was 80% better. The next day, it was 90% better."

Didn't Please All the People All the Time
Of course, several doctors said they didn't like all of the demonstration. They felt it needed a "Power Point" presentation." (This will be rectified next time.) Nevertheless, even these docs were careful to add that they were impressed by the efficacy of the techniques.

The audience at ACAM was one of the nicest and most receptive groups ever. I may be unsure what to expect when speaking to medical groups, but it's hard to argue with immediate and often dramatic results. Several of the doctors said after the seminar that they had applied what they learned and were able to eliminate chronic pain on patients. Several also sent emails, weeks later, saying that the improvement they experienced was lasting!

"Did I Remember to Put My Pants On?"
I sometimes get nervous before these presentations, as I wonder, "What if the procedures don't work today? What if I look like a total idiot? What if I forget to put my pants on before I come to the lecture?" Things like that. We've been fortunate to have dramatic results at every demo so far. And I haven't forgotten to put my pants on. Yet.

Many hundreds of MDs, DCs, acupuncturists, NDs, DOs., PTs, and body workers have now learned Pain Neutralization Technique from video. Many of these doctors and practitioners have had instant improvement and elimination of chronic symptoms when trigger points have been erased, including long-standing cervical and lumbar disc problems, frozen shoulders, severe TMJ dysfunction, migraines, chronic abdominal pain, etc.

For further information, please go to www.painneutralization.com, or contact
Dr. Steve Kaufman, DC
2693 S. Niagara St.
Denver, Colorado
800-774-5078 or 303-756-9567.
c. Stephen Kaufman D.C. Denver, CO. 2008

Notes

  1. Alvarez DJ, Rockwell PG. Trigger points: diagnosis and management. Am Fam Physician. 2002 Feb 15;65(4):653-60.
  2. Baldry P. Acupuncture, Trigger Points, and Musculoskeletal Pain. 3rd edition. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2005.
  3. Baldry P. Myofascial Pain and Fibromyalgia Syndromes: A Clinical Guide to Diagnosis and Management. London: Churchill Livingstone;2001.
  4. Baldry P. Management of myofascial trigger point pain. Acupunct Med. 2002 Mar;20(1):2-10. Review.
  5. Borg-Stein J, Stein J. Trigger points and tender points: one and the same? Does injection treatment help? Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1996 May;22(2):305-22.
  6. Best and Taylor's Physiological Basis of Medical Practice. Brobeck J, Ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1979: 9-80
  7. Cimen A, Celik M, Erdine S. Myofascial pain syndrome in the differential diagnosis of chronic abdominal pain. Agri. 2004 Jul;16(3):45-7.
  8. Esenyel M, Caglar N, Aldemir T. Treatment of myofascial pain. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2000 Jan-Feb;79(1):48-52.
  9. Gerwin RD. Neurobiology of the myofascial trigger point. Baillieres Clin Rheumatol. 1994 Nov;8(4):747-62. Review.
  10. Gerwin RD, Dommerholt J, Shah JP. An expansion of Simons' integrated hypothesis of trigger point formation. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004 Dec;8(6):468-75.
  11. Graff-Radford SB. Myofascial pain: diagnosis and management. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004 Dec;8(6):463-7.
  12. Graff-Radford SB. Regional myofascial pain syndrome and headache: principles of diagnosis and management. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2001 Aug;5(4):376-81.
  13. Han SC, Harrison P. Myofascial pain syndrome and trigger-point management. Reg Anesth. 1997 Jan-Feb;22(1):89-101.
  14. Hou CR, Tsai LC, Cheng KF, Chung KC, Hong CZ. Immediate effects of various physical therapeutic modalities on cervical myofascial pain and trigger-point sensitivity. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2002 Oct;83(10):1406-14.
  15. Iguchi M, Katoh Y, Koike H, Hayashi T, Nakamura M. Randomized trial of trigger point injection for renal colic. Int J Urol. 2002 Sep;9(9):475-9.
  16. Kaufman S. Can pain be turned off instantly by using neuromuscular reflexes? Townsend Letter. November 2007.
  17. Lauder TD. Musculoskeletal disorders that frequently mimic radiculopathy. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2002 Aug;13(3):469-85.
  18. Lavelle ED, Lavelle W, Smith HS. Myofascial trigger points. Anesthesiol Clin. 2007 Dec;25(4):841-51.
  19. Matthews GG. Neurobiology: Molecules, Cells and Systems. Blackwell Publishing; 2001.
  20. Pongratz DE, Späth M, Fortschr. Myofascial pain syndrome--frequent occurrence and often misdiagnosed. Med. 1998 Sep 30;116(27):24-9.
  21. Rowen R. Permanently eliminate pain in minutes. Second Opinion Newsletter. July 2006
  22. Schmidt RF, ed. Fundamentals of Neurophysiology. New York: Springer-Verlag;1975: 102-114; 144-160.
  23. Schneider MJ. Tender points/fibromyalgia vs. trigger points/myofascial pain syndrome: a need for clarity in terminology and differential diagnosis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1996 Feb;19(2):146-7.
  24. Sciotti VM, Mittak VL, DiMarco L, Ford LM, Plezbert J, Santipadri E,Wigglesworth J, Ball K. Clinical precision of myofascial trigger point location in the trapezius muscle. Pain. 2001 Sep;93(3):259-66.
  25. Simons DG. Undiagnosed pain complaints: trigger points? Clin J Pain. 1997 Mar;13(1):82-3.
  26. Simons DG. Fibrositis/fibromyalgia: a form of myofascial trigger points? Am J Med. 1986 Sep 29;81(3A):93-8.
  27. Tanner GA, Rhoades RA. Medical Physiology. 2nd edition. Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2003.
  28. Travell J, Rinzler S. The myofascial genesis of pain. Postgrad Med. 1952 May;11(5):425-34.
  29. Travell J, Simons DG. Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: the Trigger Point Manual. Vol. 1 and 2. 2nd edition. Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins; 1999.


 

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