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E.T.P.S.
Electro Therapeutic Point Stimulation
A new technique that combines the principles of acupuncture, massage, physical therapy and micro-current stimulation is successfully helping many patients with chronic pain live normal lives again. – Bruce Hocking, Acupuncturist
Chronic pain affects an estimated 80 million Americans. It also causes many unpleasant side effects, including marital and family problems, sleeping difficulties, depression, fatigue and weight gain. As a result, allopathic and alternative treatments for pain—including acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and pain clinics—have spawned the evolution of a huge industry. In the United States alone, conventional medical treatments for pain constitute a multibillion-dollar industry. Despite the size of this industry, and the expertise involved, patient results are often unsatisfactory.
How does ETPS work?
ETPS Therapy is based on the belief that pain usually has several different sources and, therefore, requires a multi-system approach to produce long-term effects on patients. In my experience, a seven-step approach can usually treat almost any pain condition, provided the points are treated in order:
First, deregulating or calming the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is an important step for relieving pain with chronic patients. Specific parasympathetic acupuncture points, which have an effect on the body’s nervous system, are treated with ETPS to reduce sensitivity and to calm the patient’s ANS.
Second, we manually stretch the piriformis muscle to balance the sacrum and allow the spine to symmetrically restack, thereby relieving pressure on the nerve roots, further calming the ANS and structurally realigning the entire skeletal system.
Third, injuries are traced back to the nerve root(s) where paraspinal tissue changes are identified through palpation that relates to radiculopathy (nerve root entrapment). ETPS stimulation is applied to muscles on each side of the entrapped nerve to relax muscle contractions responsible for radiculopathy, and relieve the patient’s pain.
Fourth, ETPS is applied to muscles above and below distal joint injuries, relaxing local muscles and significantly increasing range of motion and overall joint strength.
Fifth, ETPS stimulation is applied to scars (called neural therapy) intersecting dermatomes and meridians, in order to re-polarize and soften them. Emotions and energy blockages are often “locked” into scars and this technique can often provide enormous relief to patients.
The next step (6th) is treating the emotional (limbic) system, often ignored by many pain therapists. Applying ETPS stimulation to key acupuncture points relating to fear, anxiety, anger, worry, grief can often “unlock” old gates and provide enormous relief to a patient suffering from chronic pain.
Finally the seventh step is balancing the meridian systems by applying ETPS to key distal acupuncture points allowing energy to flow freely once the above physical and emotional blockages are cleared up.
With each step, ETPS stimulation is applied to acupuncture and trigger points, which isolate specific tissues/organs involved with that step. Using a process of elimination, a therapist can isolate “root” causes of pain, providing a more efficient therapy with much stronger outcomes.
What does the ETPS device do?
The ETPS 1000, an electrode wand similar in appearance to a digital thermometer, produces a stimulation that relaxes muscles and calms the nervous system. In addition, it relaxes contracted muscles to relieve pressed nerves, and also releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers
This multi-pronged effect on the body’s nervous and muscle system is the reason why ETPS works so effectively. “Much of chronic pain is musculoskeletal in nature, and much of that is muscular,” says Jay Shah, M.D., a physiatrist in the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. “The theory is that by stimulating acupuncture [and trigger] points, you can significantly relax muscles and improve pain relief.”
The unit is designed to detect acupuncture and trigger points, and emits a beep when one is found. The device then applies a low-level electrical current to open the blockage and relax the muscle. No needles are involved!
While pain medications often treat only the symptoms, ETPS allows patients to treat the immediate pain symptom as well as address its source if it is muscular in nature. For this reason, a good stretching program is often added to keep muscles and other soft tissues loose and pain-free, thus allowing patients to better function.
What’s the medical/scientific view on this?
Physicians have conducted clinical studies to test both magnetic and electrotherapeutic practices, with some encouraging results. For example, an independent study performed at Florida Hospital strongly supports the efficacy of ETPS Therapy. Patients were placed into two groups, one group receiving only Physical Therapy, and the other group receiving Physical Therapy along with ETPS. Results showed that the group having ETPS combined with PT had significantly greater reduction in pain (79%) as compared to the group that only had Physical Therapy (48%). The study concluded, “ETPS is an effective modality when combined with traditional physical therapy.”
What are patients saying about this treatment?
For patients who have tried other approaches to no avail, success with ETPS therapy sometimes seems miraculous. For example, a woman who was in a series of car accidents 17 years ago that left her with headaches, a frozen shoulder and chronic pain, felt she “walked like an 85-year-old woman.” After a therapist introduced her to ETPS, the woman changed dramatically: “Only half an hour after the ETPS therapist did my neck, I was able to get up and bend down. Before treatment, I couldn’t take my foot and put it on top of my other foot; after treatment, I could put that same foot on my knee!” Although the woman claimed not to know why ETPS worked, she has continued with it:
“Once something works, you can’t question it.”
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