What is IMS?
A new understanding of chronic pain
Many people who suffer from chronic pain become frustrated and depressed when their doctors cannot help. Some try medications and physical therapies, such as massage, physiotherapy, manipulations, even surgery, and do not find lasting relief.
Here we explain how chronic pain can occur, even when there is no injury or inflammation, and describe a scientifically proven method for diagnosing and treating it.
Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is an effective treatment
for chronic pain of neuropathic origin. IMS was developed
by Dr Chan Gunn while he was a clinical physician
at the Workers Compensation Board of British Columbia.
Dr Gunn is currently a clinical professor and teaches IMS at
universities in British Columbia, Seattle and around
the world. IMS is an effective technique with few side effect
and is unequalled for finding and diagnosing muscle
shortening in deep muscles.
Although IMS uses implements adapted from traditional acupuncture, it is based on scientific, neurophysiological principles. The acupuncture needle used is very thin. You may not even feel it penetrating the skin of normal muscles. However, if your muscle is supersensitive and shortened, you will feel a peculiar sensation like muscle cramp. This is a distinctive type of discomfort caused by the muscle grasping the needle. Patients soon learn to recognise and welcome this sensation. They call it “good” or positive pain, because it soon disappears and is followed by a wonderful feeling of relief and relaxation. The needle may still be there, but because the muscle is no longer tight, you no longer feel it. The needling has caused your abnormal muscle shortening to intensify and then release. It is important that you experience this sensation in order to gain lasting relief.
“Neuropathy”, or what happens when nerves start to go wrong
Doctors usually have no difficulty in treating pain caused by injury or inflammation, but they are often perplexed by pain that shows no sign of tissue damage or inflammation - headaches, whiplash, backache, tennis elbow or frozen shoulder. This type of pain, known as neuropathic pain, typically occurs when nerves malfunction following minor irritation. Nerves and nerve endings become extremely sensitive and cause innocent, harmless signals to be exaggerated and misperceived as painful ones (a characteristic known medically as supersensitivity). The result is pain, even when extensive medical tests show there is “nothing wrong”. Until recently, supersensitivity has received little attention in medical circles.
The effects of IMS
The effects of IMS are cumulative - needling stimulates a certain amount of healing, until eventually the condition is healed and the pain disappears. Some patients treated with IMS have remained pain free for 20 years.
Treatments are usually once a week to allow time between treatments for the body to heal itself. The number of treatments you require will depend on several factors:
•
the duration and extent of your condition
the duration and extent of your condition•how much scar tissue there is
how much scar tissue there is•how quickly your body can heal
how quickly your body can heal The rate of healing depends on the condition of your nerves (young people usually heal more quickly). If the pain is of recent origin, one treatment may be all that is necessary. In published studies of patients with low back pain, the average number of treatments required was eight.
Treating neuropathic pain
Supersensitivity and muscle shortening cannot be operated on and “cut away”. Pain killers and other analgesic pills only mask the pain. The goal of treatment is to release muscle shortening which presses on and irritates the nerve. Supersensitive areas can be desensitised and the persistent pull of shortened muscles released.
An important factor in neuropathic pain is muscle shortening, caused by muscle spasm and contraction. Muscle shortening produces pain by pulling on tendons, straining them as well as distressing the joints they move. Muscle shortening also increases wear and tear and contributes to degenerative changes such as tendonitis and osteoarthritis. These conditions are customarily regarded as local conditions and may not receive appropriate diagnosis or treatment.
Involvement of the spine
The most common cause of nerve irritation and neuropathic pain is spondylosis, or degeneration in the spine, which can be the result of normal wear and tear. Spondylosis irritates the nerve root and leads to neuropathy and muscle shortening.
How IMS compares to acupuncture
Acupuncture
- Originated in China thousands of years ago
- Traditional Chinese medical diagnosis necessary
- Needles inserted into acupoints on meridian lines
- Meridians are pathways in which chi (energy) is circulated around the body
IMS
- Developed over last 30 years for pain relief
- Western medical examination and diagnosis necessary
- Needles are inserted into shortened muscles in a microsurgical technique
- Knowledge of anatomy is essential
- Only physiotherapists, medical doctors or surgeons with acupuncture experience can practice IMS
- Patients usually experience prompt, lasting effects - physically and emotionally
The Nicky Snazell Clinic
World-renowned specialists in pain therapy
The Nicky Snazell Clinic
Cromwell House, Wolseley Bridge
Stafford ST17 0XS
World-renowned specialists in pain therapy, physiotherapy, sports injuries, IMS, injury rehabilitation ,
alternative therapies, neck and back pain.
