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Dr. Blair Lamb, MD recommends
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Back Pain Therapy Can Be Shocking!Many of our readers have asked for my opinion about PENS, or percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the treatment of low back pain. PENS is not really a new treatment for low back pain. I have been using a PENS-like treatment for the past seven years called IMS or Intramuscular Stimulation. Many other doctors use similar treatment. Nevertheless, Pens has become popular due to research that shows it can be very effective for even the most difficult back pain. PENS is a combination of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and electroaccupuncture. (AKA, acupuncture needles hooked up to electricity) TENS or transcutaneous nerve stimulation does not break the skin but uses electrical pads instead. A recent study of 29 men and 31 women demonstrated significant reduction of pain in standardized pain scores using PENS versus three other modalities. The study showed an 82% reduction in pain immediately using PENS, versus 26% using TENS and virtually no improvement using placebo PENS and exercise. PENS also improved activity and sleep scores, and required 50% less analgesic (pain) medication. Edited from Journal Watch, Volume 19, Numbers 7&8, Page 54, from Ghoname EA et al. Percutaneous Electrical nerve Stimulation for Low Back Pain; A randomized Crossover Study. JAMA 1999, Mar 3; 281; 8 18-23. I of course, agree with this approach for low back pain. My typical suggestion for low back treatment is to apply PENS to the leg musculature and well as the paraspinal musculature involved. To be sure I reach all sites in a low back, I prefer to treat from L1 to S1 at all times with a 50 to 60 mm, .25mm gauge needle to full depth. This way I can be more certain of releasing the intrinsic muscles of the spine. Of course, to ensure safety, this form of needling should only be done by an absolute expert. The study suggests, yet again, my claims of neuropathic induced sleep disorder, and that correction of the spinal and muscle induced neuropathy can correct the sleep disorder and related problems.There is hope! Microcurrent TherapyClick on this 2 minute movie link for a Dr. Lamb overview of using
Microcurrent Therapy For Pain |
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