What is Intramuscular Stimulation?
Intramuscular Stimulation is an effective treatment for chronic pain of neuropathic origin. Intramuscular stimulation is grounded in western medical science, giving it a solid foundation, and is supported by many experts in the field including researchers and physicians.
Neuropathic pain occurs when nerves malfunction following a trauma. For example whiplash, back injury, or repetitive strain. These malfunctioning nerves become extremely sensitive and cause muscle tightness and shortening, changes in blood flow, and turn normal sensory input into pain.
IMS in Vancouver
Intramuscular Stimulation is originally a Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment that was established in western medicine by Dr. Chan Gunn. He was a physician at the Worker’s Compensation Board of British Columbia in the 70’s. The many WCB patients that did not respond to conventional rehabilitation perplexed Dr. Gunn and he subsequently developed the neuropathic model, based on scientific research, to explain his observations. Dr. Gunn is presently the president of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain, and clinical professor at the University of Washington’s Multidisciplinary Pain Centre in Seattle. He has been awarded the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest honor, for his contribution towards solving chronic pain.
Intramuscular stimulation relies heavily on a thorough physical examination of the patient by a competent practitioner, trained to recognize the physical signs of neuropathic pain. This physical examination is indispensable since chronic pain is often neurological as opposed to structural, and therefore, invisible to expensive X-rays, MRI Tests, Bone and CT Scans. Failure to recognize these signs will result in an inaccurate diagnosis, and thus, a poor starting point for physical therapy.
IMS Treatment in Vancouver
The intramuscular stimulation treatment utilizes acupuncture needles to specifically target injured muscles that have contracted and shortened from an unhealthy nervous system. The needle sites can be in the extremities at the epicenter of taut, tender muscle bands, or they can be near the spine. Penetration of a normal muscle is painless; however, a shortened, supersensitive muscle will ‘grasp’ the needle in what can be described as a cramping sensation. The result is threefold. One, a stretch receptor in the muscle is stimulated, producing a reflex relaxation and lengthening of the muscle. Two, the needle also causes a small injury that draws blood to the area, initiating the natural healing process. Three, the treatment creates an electrical potential in the muscle to make the nerve function normally again.
