Dry Needling Is Emerging As An Alternative To

Opioids: Style Magazine Newswire 12/12/2019

Maybe a sports injury is the problem. Maybe arthritis or some other health condition is the culprit. Regardless of the cause, nearly 20 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, worrying every day about flare-ups that interfere with their enjoyment of life. While many people turn to painkillers as their first line of defence, others are finding relief in opioid-free methods, such as dry needling.

 

“Many people view their pain as being a bad thing in itself, but actually it is nature’s warning system, meant to protect us” says Nicky Snazell, a physiotherapist and author of ‘The 4 Keys To Health’ and other books. “We need to heed that warning and address the real cause of the problem, not just look for ways to mask the symptoms.”

 

While Snazell says painkillers have their place, she prefers an integrative approach to combating pain, combining the most potent aspects of medicine with complementary therapies. Dry needling is one of the methods she’s a proponent of and regularly practices.

 

For those unfamiliar, here’s how the Mayo Clinic describes dry needling: A thin monofilament needle penetrates the skin and treats underlying muscular trigger points for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments.

Snazell practices what is known as the GunnlMS method, which also uses dry needling to treat neuropathic pain.

 

Some professional athletes, such as NBA star Anthony Davis, have turned to dry needling to help them overcome troublesome conditions such as back spasms.

 

Research indicates that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, and normalises dysfunction of the motor end plates, the sites at which nerve impulses are transmitted to muscles, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. This can help speed up the patients return to active rehabilitation.

 

“Dry needling is used as part of wider physiotherapy treatment and succeeds where other treatments fail”, says Snazell, who for over three decades has performed dry needling with success on thousands of patients in the UK.

A few points the American Physical Therapy Association says patients should know about dry needling include:

 

  • The technique uses a “dry” needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into areas of muscle. Other terms commonly used

to describe dry needling include trigger point dry needling and intramuscular manual therapy.

  • Although there are similarities, dry needling is not acupuncture, a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine and performed by acupuncturists. Dry needling is based on modern Western-based medicine principles and supported by research. (There has been controversy in this area though,

with acupuncturists in some states trying to block physical therapists from using the procedure, saying they are infringing on the acupuncturists’ turf}.

 

  • Physical therapists who perform dry needling obtain specific postgraduate education and training. When contacting a physical therapist for dry needling treatment, the association says, ask about their specific experience and education.

 

Beyond dry needling, medication, and other pain relief therapies, Snazell says those battling pain can also ease some of their sufferings through lifestyle changes.

 

“We need to realise that many causes of pain are self-inflicted and can be easily avoided,” she says. “Find ways to lower your  stress  level. Change your diet to avoid such things as processed foods and excess sugar. Exercise regularly. All of these activities can play a role in helping you to reduce your pain and get more enjoyment out of life.”

 

 

The Practical Application of Nicky Snazell’s Advanced Needling Skills

Nicky Snazell is one of the worlds leading GunnIMS dry needling practitioners, having reached the highest training level and awarded a fellowship of ISTOP.  She has treated thousands of patients over nearly 30 years, taught IMS and presented on pain and health internationally, and written 5 books on pain and health.  Nicky is a recognised authority who attracts patients from all corners of the globe.

 

This internship will take you from previous theory and practical courses in which you were taught WHERE to put needles, to the essential and more important step of WHY and HOW.

Internships will involve one on one with Nicky Snazell, observing while she treats complex neuro-musculoskeletal cases.

 

She will elaborate on:

  • How you diagnose with a needle
  • The difference between Eastern-based acupuncture and GunnIMS dry needling
  • Physiological theories and anatomical placement of needles
  • Provide an initial understanding of the WHY of treating and HOW to mix with Eastern practice.

 

Nicky will also provide an understanding of how her 4 Keys approach gives a baseline to both assessing the patients healing time, plus the overall health of their immune system. This will guide the most appropriate type and intensity of treatment. In other words, the dosage.

 

Previous experience required:

  • Foundation BMAS or AACP course
  • Minimum of 3 years acupuncture practice
  • Chartered Physiotherapist or
  • Medic with post-graduate training in MSK and acupuncture

 

Internship days will start at 9:30 am and finish at 3:30 pm, with a 30-minute lunch break (please bring your own lunch), and will be held at Nicky Snazell’s Clinic near Stafford.

Internship cost £250 per day

For more information, please call Nicky Snazell’s Wellness & Physiotherapy Clinic on 01889 881488.

The clinic is in central England and has rapid access to most of the country, with an excellent motorway network nearby. Stafford is only 1hr 15min by train from London.

 

Back pain is the most common cause of disability, so how do you get back pain relief?

In this page, we look at back pain relief and how this effects you. We also discuss the best solutions and make recommendations for those who are suffering. There is also a case study example of how this can help you and what the takeaways are.

All I want for Xmas is a new back & back pain relief

Are you a back pain sufferer? Do you want to recover naturally and quickly from chronic spinal pain? Be able to sit, stand, walk and play without the nagging fear of pain? Do you also want to avoid any side effects of long-term painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs?

The spinal column protects our spinal brain and our wiring system, the nerves. Need I say more as to how important that is? Unyet, back pain remains one of the leading causes of disability, with the main culprit being Mr. Disc. This innocent looking cushion is filled with a sturdy jelly-like substance in a whirl not whip configuration of protective fibrous bands.

Better posture helps with back pain relief

Worn out discs are made worse by our old friend poor posture. Poor posture compresses not only the discs, but also small muscles, and nerves and capillaries, slowing up the supply of nutrition and oxygen to the spine. Worn discs are unable to protect the little spinal facet joints, and inflammatory osteoarthritis moves in. Arthritic facet joints are painful in their own right in 30 % of back pain and need strong muscles to support them.

If you have worn discs look to your muscles. Weakened back, stomach and butt muscles along with tight hamstrings all squash discs. Improving your fitness with back specific strengthening and stretching exercises will help to lessen the degeneration of your spinal joints. That’s why father Xmas will be limbering up before attempting those chimneys.

Detecting a slipped disk

How do I know it could be a disc I hear you say? Well, let’s self-diagnosed, it may be a disc problem if slumping in a chair makes it worse, or pulling knees to chest on your back, or picking stuff off the floor, or putting on shoes. Moreover, walking and leaning back relieves the pain.

If you are finding it harder getting out of bed, putting your shoes on, or sitting for periods of time, you need to look after your back. The magical thing about backs is that ageing does not have to be a pain, backs respond quickly to expert treatment and a self-help guide to lifestyle change.

Let me tell you about lady who came to me a month ago, I will call her Jo. Jo struggled to walk up the pathway to my clinic and sat with tears in her eyes looking as if someone had given her a death sentence. Jo had been told the same old story, “you have wear and tear in your spine, it will only get worse, learn to live with it. We will send you for some hands-off, exercise physiotherapy; you will need to wait a few weeks or months, as you are not deemed urgent.  We may consider a surgical opinion, and take these painkillers and anti-depressants for the foreseeable future.”

Those words said in all innocence wiped out this ladies future, how could she care for her garden and house, and look after, play and hold her grandchildren?

You will be pleased to know Jo responded quickly to treatment and lifestyle advice and came into my office beaming yesterday, her pain was considerably better, the joint movement was fluid, Jo could stoop down and tend to the house and garden, and did not feel drowsy as she no longer needed her painkillers. That morning she had jogged half a mile with her grandson. She was living proof that with an integrative medical approach and a healthy lifestyle, that she could be fit and pain-free. The good news is that we know with 25 years of experience, that a synergistic approach of therapies, including the use of specialist technology, prevents a lot of the discomfort ageing can bring. I recently presented this in Spain at the z factor, and I strongly believe a long healthy pain free life is the best Xmas present you can receive.

 

For free info on backs browse my website, or let me know if you wish me to give a talk, together let’s get over this epidemic of back pain.  Xmas treatment gift vouchers available. www.painreliefclinic.co.uk.  FB,twitter. 01889881488

 

“Nicky Snazell is the only practitioner I will allow to treat me”

Jon Hobbs Chairman UK Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, Vice President of Federation of Holistic Medicine.

The majority of patients who come to my clinic, or maybe who are just considering it and even those who I have personally treated, are totally confused about what GunnIMS is and also how it differs from Acupuncture. The general assumption is that GunnIMS uses needles, so it must be acupuncture, right? Wrong.

 

What is the Difference Between Acupuncture and GunnIMS

 

Acupuncture is an Eastern technique, originally developed between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, without the benefits of modern anatomical knowledge we have today. Chinese Medicine is based on the assumption that energy, or Chi, flows around the body along defined meridian lines. The belief then is that by inserting needles into these meridian lines, it will affect the chi to bring the body back into balance. As a general rule the chi flows in fascia below the skin level, which is not too deep in the body. Typically needles would be inserted into the fascia and left in place for up to 30 minutes. Western acupuncture is a subset of Eastern acupuncture and follows similar principles.

 

GunnIMS was developed much more recently, over the last 40 years, by Professor Gunn, a Vancouver based Doctor, using western knowledge of the anatomy and uses needles as a micro surgical tool, cutting and directly into muscles which are not reacting properly to nerve signals and causing excess pressure on nerves, leading to long-term, or chronic pain. It thus bears almost no resemblance to acupuncture other than the fact that both techniques use a needle. It’s about as relevant as saying surgeons and cake makers both use knives.

Who Can Benefit From GunnIMS

Many people who have, or are suffering long-term unresolved spinal pain, can be helped much more by GunnIMS than any other technique currently available. In fact, GunnIMS is unsurpassed in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic muscular-related nerve (neuropathic) problems.

 

I’ll explain that with an analogy. Think of your car: if your headlight bulb keeps blowing because of a faulty wire in the fuse box, then you need to fix the fuse box, not keep replacing the headlight bulb. This seems blindingly obvious.

 

The way that human anatomy is formed in the womb means that the limbs can be considered an extension of the spine. So, specific parts of the body are controlled by specific nerves, their roots emerging at the spine. Just as in the car analogy, you could have pain in your foot because of a nerve problem in your back, or an elbow problem because of a nerve problem in the neck.

This is why people who suffer pain in the leg or foot get no relief from endless treatments on their leg or foot. Keep changing the light bulb and it won’t fix the problem.

Didn’t we just agree it was blindingly obvious to fix the fuse box? Yet I’ve lost track of the number of times patients have arrived having suffered long-term pain which they have been told was permanent and nothing could be done and just get on with it.

This Is Simply Not True

Even worse, they have had many, many treatments on the symptom area, rather than the root cause of the problem in the spine.

 

“A non-surgical, non-invasive alternative for pain relief and musculoskeletal repair.”

Shockwave therapy is a modern and highly effective treatment option in orthopaedic and rehabilitation medicine. The term shockwave refers to mechanical pressure pulses that expand as a wave in the body.

 

Radial shockwave was extensively used in mainland Europe for many years before being introduced to the UK. Due to this, radial shockwave is still not commonly available here, but its acceptance is growing, in part helped by gaining NICE approval for some conditions. Our clinic was at the forefront of radial shockwave introduction, following training for Nicky & Alan by an Orthopaedic Consultant who runs a major shockwave clinic in Luxembourg.

Extensive research around the world is continuing to push the boundaries at a rapid pace and many new applications are constantly being developed, so expect more updates in the future.

How does it work?

The shockwave is created by firing a high energy projectile into the back of a transmitter, the front of which is in contact with the patient’s body. The projectile is fired repeatedly at a frequency to suit the particular condition being treated.

 

The transmitter sends a high energy acoustic wave into the body. The energy promotes regeneration and reparative processes of the bones, tendons and other soft tissues. Shockwaves are characterised by large changes in pressure.

 

Shockwave is particularly effective in the treatment of:

  • Plantar fasciitis | Policeman’s foot
  • Tendon calcification
  • Adhesive Capsulitis | Frozen shoulder
  • Achilles tendonitis
  • Lumbar spasm
  • Shin splints
  • Piriformis syndrome
  • Tennis / Golfer’s elbow
  • Iliotibial Band Syndrome
  • Osteoarthritic joint mobility

Many patients have come to us with osteoarthritic joints and have felt an immediate improvement in joint flexibility. For those who choose not to undergo joint replacement surgery, shockwave offers a maintenance alternative.

There is no extra charge for using radial shockwave.

If you feel we could help you with our radial shockwave technology, then gives us a call.

 

One autumn morning last year, a quiet, middle-aged clinical professor came to see me because he found his gym workout was badly irritating his elbow and ankle.

 

I went over my 4 Keys (see my book) healthy living questions to which he scored green in food/ water/ supplements and fitness. He scored amber in lifestyle – he was working a little too much. Family life had been fraught with problems until recently, and on the whole, he loved his work. He just couldn’t quite get his life/ work balance right. His mind was amber and at times red, as he found teaching at university stressful, and he also found it difficult to switch off. I intuitively sensed some deeper issues, and it made sense that keeping fit calmed his mind.

 

“I haven’t injured myself or upped my workouts or done anything to cause these pains; they’ve just crept up on me. My pain is deep and aching, not sharp, and I haven’t done anything to cause it,”  he stated, at a loss as to why this was happening to him.

 

This made me decide to explore his physical body for chronic [neuropathic] pain and to explore the deeper spinal muscles and relevant joints and ligaments. It seemed wise to leave the alternative discipline of shamanic reiki till later. This aspect of healing needs a deeper level of understanding and trust between practitioner and patient.

 

I could feel that his lower back was tighter on one side This could have been disc irritation, or it could have been his biomechanics; the way he sits and walks, and either a fixed or habitual posture. Telltale signs of collagen lines at the base of his neck and back suggested a thinning of the underlying discs. His buttock was acutely tender. His hamstring was slightly more tense, with sensitivity being increased again over the division of the sciatic nerve at the back of the knee, tight bands in his calf muscles, and a moving tenderness where his ankle flexors wove around his ankle.

 

This was all pointing to neuropathic changes to his L5 nerve root at the base of his spine. That means the sensitivity of the nerve root due to poor posture or ageing disc, as well as mild peripheral nerve changes, causing small contractures down the limb and his ache.

 

This type of problem is insidious, and is often a normal part of ageing-related to postural issues, causing disc narrowing, called spondylosis, and subtle changes to nerves, from very mild to severe neuropathy.

 

The symptoms can be anything from mild stiffness to pins and needles, numbness and various degrees of sharp burning and aching pains, often made worse on exercising.

 

Edwin needed a combination of treatments and skills to help resolve his problems. Over two treatments I gave him GunnIMS to relieve the deep-seated muscle problems at the base of his neck and back, plus acupuncture, laser, joint mobilisations and deep oscillation. I also used NLP and subtle mind mapping to get his head in the right place.

 

Ideally, I would have gone on to add shamanic reiki to heal issues in his auric body, balance his chakras, and use key acupuncture points in his fascial plane. However, after two treatments he was physically pain-free and elected to get on with his life.

 

Deep Oscillation Integrated Use

I have introduced to this again recently whilst presenting at the AACP conferences in 2016 and 17.

Just after this event, in part due to too much talking, bronchitis hit me big time and I was amazed at the effect of this technology on my lungs; I could breathe afterwards and slept much better.

It is so easy to use especially for those skilled in massage, the results include pain relief, anti-in­flammatory effects, the reduction of swelling [oedema], the acceleration of wound healing and can be used straight after an injury.

I love the ability to wear the technology as gloves thus giving a deep connection between therapist and patient. With some sensitive [neuropathic] painful conditions strong hands-on massage can just make the pain worse, however, this soothing treatment helps. It’s a lovely way to also combine with stress relieving shamanic reiki to kick-start the immune system. Furthermore, it’s great to be able to ease fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, swollen painful muscles to name a few, whilst manipulating the joints and acupuncture needles at the same time.

I came across three good pieces of research on this, though there are a lot more out there: Jahr et al., 2008, Aliyev, 2009, and Aliyev, 2012.Much more on our website www.painreliefclinic.co.uk

nicky snazell clinics

Wellness

It’s best to explain this with the help of an analogy. When you buy a brand new car, it comes with a warranty. There’s a reason for this. The manufacturer is basically guaranteeing, that provided you look after your car as specified, you are going to be very unlucky if anything goes wrong under the warranty period. Once past this honeymoon period, you know that you must carry out regular preventative maintenance at set intervals, in order to continue with many more miles of trouble-free motoring.

Eventually, you will get to that time when things start to wear out and go wrong. Some parts will corrode, weaken and eventually fail. How fast your car gets to the junkyard depends very much on how well you looked after it and the difference can be many years.

Just as with a car, how many problems you will have and how long your body will last depends very much on how well it is maintained and that’s where we can help you.

Nicky has devoted her life to finding better knowledge on how to help people get better results from their treatment and to live a longer, healthier life. In her books she developed the concept of a Human Garage and also the importance of overall health, or Wellness, which she defined in her 4 Keys model.

She has built a powerful team of highly experienced therapists and together they offer you the expertise of looking not only at the problems caused by a recent injury or of a longer term chronic condition, but also look at your health keys to get even better long-term results.

Wellness encompasses all of you, your fuel (diet & nutrition), your servicing ( exercise & fitness), how hard you press your right foot (stress) and your environment (lifestyle). The intent of Wellness is to achieve better long-term health.

If you feel you have Wellness factors that are impacting your ability to heal or want to find out more about living a longer healthier life, then we can help.

Wellness

Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is any pain caused from the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments or muscles. This may include things such as a sprained knee/ankle, arthritis in a joint, tennis/golfers elbow, pulled muscles and many other conditions.
When you come into our clinic you can be assessed by a Physiotherapist or a Sports Therapist. Depending on the area of the pain, the assessment can look at your posture, range of movement, strength and special tests that can assess stability, proprioception and joint integrity. These findings will help your therapist to develop a working hypothesis, which they will use in consultation with yourself to direct them to the most appropriate treatment for your condition.
There are many treatments on offer at the clinic for those with MSK problems. Some of the treatments offered in-house include:

Soft tissue work/massage- Massage can be used to increase the mobility in stiff arthritic joints or break down scar tissue after muscle strains or operations. It is commonly used to reduce muscle tone, tightness or spasms and decrease the stress placed on bones/joints whilst promoting relaxation.

Acupuncture- This traditional Chinese technique is used in clinic to treat lots of conditions such as headaches/migraines, neck, back, shoulder and other joint pains. Acupuncture will be discussed in more detail in another newsletter.

Electrotherapy - We are lucky here to have access to a wide variety of electrotherapy modalities including Robotic Spinal Manipulation, Shockwave, Ultrasound, Deep Oscillation, Shortwave, and Laser.

Joint mobilisations/manipulations can be used to increase a range of movement in joints and decrease pain.

Individual exercise programmes- We are able to tailor personalised exercise programmes for your injury /condition that may include strengthening, stretching and mobilising work.

There are also Functional Rehab classes on offer with our Sports Therapist Anton.

Next month we will look at Wellness

identifying health issues and treatments

What type of practitioner is best suited to help your problem?

For sudden onset soft tissue trauma, arthritic joints and sports injuries

  • For serious unresolved chronic spine and joint pain
  • For chronic unresolved MSK conditions such as Rheumatoid, Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis or Disc Degeneration
  • For specific sports rehab advice
  • For recent onset nerve pain, i.e. carpal tunnel/sciatica
  • For a wholistic approach embracing 4 Keys To Health
  • For a neurological problems such as Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Head and Spinal Injury

Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and Sports Therapy

Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is any pain caused by the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles or nerves. This may include things such as a sprained knee/ankle, arthritis in a joint, tennis/golfers elbow, pulled muscles and many other conditions. Some physiotherapists specialise in MSK, whereas others might specialise in respiratory medicine, pediatrics, neurology or other areas.

At Nicky Snazell’s we have MSK Physiotherapists and Sports Therapists, the latter only being MSK. In simple terms, the skills of these therapists overlap quite a lot, but whereas Physiotherapist training covers a broad range of medical training, a Sports Therapist focuses instead on injury rehab.

Treatment of Neurological Problems

When you come into our clinic you can be assessed by a Sports Therapist or a Physiotherapist. Depending on the area of the pain, the assessment can look at your posture, range of movement, and strength with special tests assess stability, proprioception [balance] and joint integrity. These findings will help your therapist to develop a working hypothesis, which your therapist will use in consultation with you to direct the most appropriate treatment for your condition.

Treatments offered in-house include soft tissue work, massage, acupuncture and joint mobilisations/manipulations, plus classes for both functional rehab and yoga pilates, supported by a wide range of technology, including robotic spinal manipulation, shockwave, ultrasound, deep oscillation, shortwave, laser and magnetic resonance treatment.

Chronic Pain

While MSK physiotherapy does a fantastic job of treating acute injury and inflammation, it falls short in dealing with long-term (or chronic) pain. This type of pain is often puzzling and can lay hidden within a diagnosis of tennis elbow, back pain, repetitive strain, frozen shoulder, whiplash, and fibromyalgia. The root cause of these types of problems is a condition called neuropathy. You cannot kill this pain by cutting it out with surgery and it cannot be hidden by drugs. The only way to deal with this type of problem is to desensitise it, by relieving the irritation at its source. Invariably this is at a nerve root in the spine.

If nerves are supersensitive, desensitising treatment is required. Perhaps an analogy helps. If an intruder alarm goes off when it shouldn’t, it’s probably over-sensitive and needs adjusting.

Sensitive nerves cause muscle contractures, which deep in the spine cause disc compression and can lead to conditions like sciatica, and shortened tendons such as Achilles tendonitis or tennis elbow. It can also reduce both nutrient and blood flow to joints, aggravating osteoarthritis.

Treatment requires a GP or physiotherapist who is qualified in GunnIMS with a wholistic approach.

 Wellness and Physiotherapy

It’s best to explain this with the help of an analogy. When you buy a brand new car, it comes with a warranty. There’s a reason for this. The manufacturer is basically guaranteeing, that provided you look after your car as specified, you are going to be very unlucky if anything goes wrong under the warranty period. Once past this honeymoon period, you know that you must carry out regular preventative maintenance at set intervals, to continue with many more miles of trouble-free motoring.

Eventually, you will get to that time, no matter what maintenance you do, things will start to wear out and go wrong. Some parts will corrode, weaken and eventually fail. How fast your car gets to the junkyard depends very much on how well you looked after it.

You may have a problem with the headlights, the bulbs keep blowing. No matter how many times you replace them, they keep blowing. Eventually, you get it properly checked and the cause of the problem was a corroded wire in the fuse box. The headlights were just the symptom and you could have kept changing them forever if you didn’t fix the cause.