NEURAL THERAPY
Neural therapy is an injection technique that is 100 years old. The injection of a local anesthetic such as lidocaine or procaine can have a profound effect on the nervous system of the body. Physical injury or illness can cause the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to malfunction. The ANS controls and regulates the metabolic, immunologic, tissue healing, digestive and hormonal systems of the body. Scars can create abnormal signals that adversely affect the ANS for years after the tissue trauma. Unhealed emotional trauma and conflicts can affect the ANS through the brain’s limbic hypothalamic axis. An injection of procaine into the exact location where the abnormal impulse disrupts the signals of the ANS can trigger a rapid and profound healing response.
Neural therapy is practiced in Europe, Mexico, and Central and South America. In the USA, anesthesiologists and pain specialists practice some of these techniques. The American Academy of Neural Therapy trains physicians in this scientifically sound therapy for the past 15 years.
Procaine is a local anesthetic that is generally very safe. Allergic reactions are rare and when injected carefully into a precise location, complications are uncommon. Although there may be some pain with the injection, within 1-2 minutes the effect of the anesthetic will stop all pain of the injection process. Advanced techniques inject the nervous system ganglia (a cluster of nerve cells distinct from the spinal cord). Risk of complications increases because of the close vicinity of large blood vessels.
Surgeons are now commonly injecting the incision at the end of the operation with lidocaine because scar pain is decreased afterwards. If a scar remains persistently red, tender and hypertrophied (thickened and raised above the skin), a series of procaine injections will help the scar become flat, pale colored and nontender. If the scar has been blocking the ANS, symptoms of pain or organ dysfunction related to the scar will disappear.
Areas of the body without scars can also cause chronic pain and organ dysfunction. These areas are often persistently tender. Janet Travell MD pioneered a technique called trigger point therapy and she used it to treat President Kennedy’s old WWII back injury pain. This is a variant of neural therapy and can be invaluable for certain persistent pain of muscular origin.
A good history, physical exam, autonomic response testing (ART) and electrodermal screening all can be used to determine if neural therapy is indicated. Some health practitioners also use low level laser light on the treated points and have had good success.
Daniel Blodgett MD