REHABILITATION

How to Use Spinal Nerves toTurn Off Pain instantiy!by Stephen Kaufman, D.C.

BEFORE 1 BECAME A CHIRO-

practoT, I read many booksabout chiropractic. My limited

understanding (a fantasy, really) wasthat chiropractors put some kind ofsecret pressure on spinal nerves thaiturned off pain instantly. After goingto dozens of chiropractors and prac-ticing for many years. I realized thatthis was, indeed, a hopeless fantasy. !never saw anything that consistentlyturned off pain by utilizing spinalnerves.

The Manual Spinal NerveBlock

One day, as I was doing researchon the Internet, I came across an oklJapanese chart demonstrating variousneurological pathways. For somereason, the style and content of thechart triggered that ancient fantasy inmy brain and an idea popped into myhead. Suppose I applied a veiy spe-cific form of pressure to spinal nerveroots utilizing known neurologicalpathways to try bloek pain with justmanual pressure. The beauty of thistheory was that it required no drugsor instruments—I could experiment using just my hands anda patient's pain. Since the only thing involved was a type oflight pressure on various nerves, it would be completely safeand pain free. (The specific pathways I was interested in werethe spinothalamic tract and the tract of Lissauer.)

It's important to note that the manual spinal nerve blockprocedure does not involve any type of thrusting or manipu-lation. Although various schools of chiropractic discuss therelationship between spinal nerves and various organs, tomy knowledge, no other technique has demonstrated instantelimination of pain by stimulation of spinal nerves.

Working with this hypothesis, I eventually found that I couldinstantly turn off much muscular tenderness in areas that weresore to touch. These are often called "trigger points," but ourdefinition of trigger points is very broad—it's any area that'smore tender to pressure than the surrounding tissues or thesame area on the opposite side of the body. Often, the exqui-

Numbness and radicularsymptoms in the arms and hands oftenis oaused by trigger points in the uppertrapezius muscle.

sitely tender area would become nor-mal {not tender to pressure) instantlywith the application of the correettype of pressure to a spinal nerveroot, even if that spinal nerve were afoot or more away from the sore spot.This worked consistently, even if thetrigger point had been sore for manyyears, or there was acute pathologyincluding fractures.

In many cases, chronic pain syn-dromes, such as cervical and lumbardisc pain, shoulder pain, TMJ pain,sciatica, and severe low back pain,responded rapidly to this procedure.Trigger points or areas of tendernessare well known to every chiropractor.Palpating the paraspinal area fromthe atlas down to L5 usually revealsmultiple areas of extreme tenderness;even after adjustment, these areasoften remain tender. Applying oneof the manual spinal nerve blocks,in most cases, will cause an immedi-ate reduction in tenderness of thesepoints. In chronic cases, severaltreatments using this procedure willusually eliminate the trigger point ona long tenn basis.

Numbness and Radicular Syndromes OftenRespond as Well as Pain

Many doctors are afraid that numbness may be a more se-rious sign than pain. I have gotten many calls about patientswith paraesthesias. In my experience, numbness often isdue to altered circulation in muscles secondary to areas ofconstriction. Carefially examining the muscle that the relatednerve travels through almost always reveals very painful areas{trigger points). Relieving these trigger points with manualspinal nerve blocks very ofi:en normalizes circulation rapidly.I used to tell my patients that numbness might take longer torespond than pain, but I've now seen many instances of itdisappearing in seconds after the proper manual spinal nerveblock has been performed.

Numbness and radicular symptoms in the arms and handsoften is caused by trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.

48 I The American Chiropractor I SEPTEMBER 2008 www.amchiropractor.com

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Other contributors may originate in the SCM, neck extensoror scalene muscles. Numbness in the lower extremity is oftencaused by areas of constriction in the piriformis, gluteal, orquadratus muselés.

Utilizing different nerve pathways, there are actually tenmanual spinal nerve blocks discovered so far. One near theatlas often has a wide ranging effect throughout the body.The stellate ganglion block seems to down regulate excessivesympathetic nervous activity and may profoundly reduce stressand the physical symptoms associated witb it. One M.D. whospecializes in Lyme's disease has been using one of the para-sympathetic techniques with dramatic effect on her patientswith Lyme-related arthropathies {joint pains.)

Difficult Extremity Cases, Abdominal Pain and Eventhe Pain from Kidney Stones Respond.

Extremities respond well, too. 1 saw two cases of OsgoodSchlatter's disease with severe knee pain that both clearedrapidly when the appropriate manual spinal nerve blocks wereapplied. A two-year follow up showed no reeurrence.

The manual spinal nerve blocks are the treatment of choicein chronic abdominal pain of many kinds. I've seen instantresults in turning off pain in Crohn's disease and uleerativecolitis. Post surgical pain following hemia surgery, hysterec-tomies, bowel surgery, etc., even if it's been there for years,has disappeared in one or two treatments. One physician said,"This would revolutionize the way we do hemia surgery."

Even two patients with kidney stones got immediate relief;the stones passed quickly without flirther problem. By stimu-lating the related nerve roots and eliminating the palpatory painover the kidney area, the patients' pain disappeared. Relaxationof the musculature of the back then allowed the stones to passthrough quickly.

Stephen Kaufman. D.C. graduated from LosAngeles Chiropractic College in ¡978. and prac-tices in Denver. CO. His techniques. Pain Neutrai-izaiion Technique and Manual Spinal Nerve Biocks.represent a rapid new. iasting approach to pain.For further information, visit www.painneutralizatum.<•(>»< orwww.manual.spinal.com. orcallDr. Kaufmanat I~H()0--774'507H orI-303-7 56-9567.

References1. Baldry, Peter. M.D. Acupuncture. Trigger Points and Musculoskeletal

Pain. Churchill Livingstone; 3 edition (2005)2. Baldry, Peter. Myofaseial Pain and Fibroniyalgia Syndromes: AClinical

Guide to Diagnosis and Management. (2001 )3. BcslandTày\oT'a Physioiogicai Basi.s of Medical Practice, (1979) Edited

by John Brobeek. Pp. 9-804. GrafF-Radford SB. Myofascial pain: diagnosis and management. Curr

Pain Headache Rep. 2004 Dcc;«(6):463-7.5. Kaufman, Stephen, D.C. "Can Pain tie Turned Off Instantly By Using

Neuromuscular Reflexes?" Townsend Letter for Doctors, 11/2007.6. (Caufman, Slephen, D.C. "Even Most Doctors Have Chronic Pain-Who

Knew?" Townsend Letter for Doctors. 05/08.7. Kaufman. Stephen. "Can Trigger Points Be Turned Offin Seconds Us-

ing Neurological Reflexes?" The American Chiropractor. Aug. 2007.p. 40-42,

8. Matthews, Gary G. Neurobiology: Molecutes, Cells and Systems. 2001.Blackwell Publishing.

For the complete list of references for thisarticle, please visit our website at

www.TheAmericanChiropractor.coni

50 I The American Chiropractor I SEPTEMBER 2008 www.amchiropractor.com