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| Click to play survivor video |
Written by: Josh Schueler, PT
Oftentimes, injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident are poorly understood and even harder to treat. Each case of whiplash is as unique as snowflakes or fingerprints. The position of head, the speed of vehicle, and the angle of impact are just a few of the variables that can effect injury. Many different structures can be injured including muscles, bones/joints, discs, tendons, and nerves. For people involved in a high speed accident the initial concern is brain injury, spinal cord injury, or fractures. It is not uncommon for people to suffer for years without relief. Many people deal with decreased range of motion, pain, numbness and other neurological symptoms.
Chronic inflammation is clinically aligned with the erosion or decline in cellular health. The inability of the cells to properly bring in nutrients and expel cellular waste causes an unhealthy environment that limits healing and recovery. In this case, a decrease in cervical rotation has lasted for years. In the case of the woman in the enclosed video, her inability to properly and fully rotate her head has caused difficulty in normal activities such as driving.
In my clinical experience, traditional treatments of therapy, medication, and manipulation (alone) does not always result in full recovery due to the poor cellular health that has transpired since the initial trauma. Her use of Neuro-magnetic treatment for her whiplash is one example off alternative solutions to traumatic injuries. This modality (in the patient care community) is gaining acceptance and popularity because of the success in restoring a healthy environment by combining with traditional treatments (referred as stacking) as well as when used as a standalone treatment.
By utilizing the treatments directly to the cervical region, potentially the chronic inflammation can be contained, significantly decreased or even eliminated. Many factors play into the healing duration with this type of treatments. Obviously, the severity of the injury, extent of damage to the area, and the amount of time since the original injury are some of the sensible considerations. In this case, our survivor had experienced the accident 4 plus years before use of neuro-magnetic treatments. Based on this information treatments may take 6 weeks in duration (as in the case) before any reportable progress toward recovery can be expected.
The implementation of non-invasive, non-pharmacological, safe, and effective treatments such as neuro-magnetic therapy is gaining public acceptance due to the growing user testimonials about its positive results. As an over-the-counter item, access to this technology alongside current information about its science and development significantly add to its popularity. Individuals who suffer from chronic conditions tend to come with a long list of failed treatments. This video is just one inspiring example of a sufferer who researched beyond the unremarkable box solutions (of pain meds and temporary relief products) and to take charge of her future post-accident. Instead of succumbing to her injuries, she reaps the rewards of her personal research and her initiative to seek out “better solutions out there”—opening up an array of alternative concepts that exist within our immediate reach. Such innovations are all part of what may potentially lead to the evolution of healthcare.
SPECIAL THANKS: The publishers of IPHA News, Health Tech Reporter and Health & Healing 101 would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Maria Errera for her generous contribution in producing her progress video depicting her recovery. Additional thanks to Ms. JoAnn Zymler (BEMER Group) for supplying this project with her PEMF equipment and her technical guidance about the Bemer Pulsed Electromagnetic Field technology. - without whose efforts this report could not hav been made possible.
Real-Time Pre & Post Imaging of PEMF Treatment
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Introduction: “BEFORE AND AFTER” Comparative Imaging
Historically speaking, the most favored (and sensible) way to identify the results of any treatment is by tracking the body's response to it. Controlled testing must show the patient's condition PRE and POST effects, where true data-finding is collecting the necessary EVIDENCE of its claims. The investigator can pull a significant amount of data from this form of validation testing: including stage-by-stage bodily response to future projections of possible side effects. Recording of any and all physiological response means the researchers are counting on the patient's body to tell us what it is undergoing during the testing phase. To reduce any chance of erroneous reporting, trials tend to work with a large number of test patients (commonly 50-100) and may also employ redundancies like undergoing multiple testing protocols for a second or even third opinion. To capture the benefits of a BEFORE AND AFTER review, Imaging is often used as a standard screening solution for the response of most of the major organs.
ULTRASOUND INTERPRETATION 101: “BEFORE THERAPY”
Modern diagnostic science looks to imaging for its safe, non-invasive yet quantifiable analyses of what’s under the skin. In this latest review, ultrasound offers a flicker-free visual (10-30 frames per second) of muscle contraction. The “real-time” advantage of video under a 3D Doppler Ultrasound easily and clearly shows the frequency of the muscle bundle’s firing (twitching) indicating fatigue and potential pathology.
I chose to test drive a top-of-the-line medical grade PEMF device on my own quadriceps (thigh) which has been heavily weakened by years of wear and tear and injury. In addition, I acquired the latest upgrade in 3D Ultrasound probes to explore the current state of this muscle. From the video (insert) the sonogram shows the Rectus Femoris branch of the four part, quadriceps muscle complex. As you can see, in this transverse or cross sectional scan, we see a muscle bundle rapidly twitching or firing, which indicates muscle fatigue or injury.
NOTE: On the top white line of the scan is a thin black margin which is the epidermis of the skin measuring 2/10 of a millimeter. This high resolution technology extends to the lower portion of the image where the abnormal muscle is noted. 3d imaging allows the scan to be quickly reproduced and quantifiably analyzed on follow up examinations
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QUANTITATIVE IMAGING: “AFTER THERAPY” using ELECTROMAGNETIC COIL TREATMENT
This BEFORE AND AFTER study support and helps identify the benefits of 3D ultrasound and its ‘actual-motion’ imaging and treated area responds to the therapy. Comparing to its condition before treatment with the magnetic coil, we are able to see the muscle contractions of the significantly weakened quadriceps femoris (hip flexor/knee extensor). After 15 minutes with a PEMF device (under efficacy review), an immediate scan with real-time ultrasound shows a significant reduction in muscle contractions. Both visually and through the ultrasound motion metrics, we are able to record an est. 35-45% calming and relaxation of the intensified muscle and contractility. This impression is repeated from various scanning angles including a longitudinal view of the same area.
There are two ways of quantifying abnormal movement; one is using the motion mode- which is used most often in scanning the heart because this probe feature allows you to visually track the motion of the valves instantaneously. Many hospital grade models can identify heart movements digitally as well as other organ movements thanks to Doppler technology [1] and AI induced presets. We can use this same motion mode on the twitching muscle fibers.
“GOING WIDE” AFTER THE BASE LINE
The research benefits of using ultrasound scanning in therapeutic monitoring allows for tremendous flexibility in exploratory detection. Once we have established the initial Base Line of the ‘before and after’ scan, having probe in hand empowers the diagnostician to go deeper and wider- allowing for more answers and possibly finding other pathologies.
For now, we see an immediate cause and effect, which is the inflamed fascia lining and that the PEMF does in fact calm down the muscle. Ultrasound provides the opportunity to follow the treatment and see how the facial abnormality is healing. So we have a way of finding pathology and then discovering the causation and documenting treatment progress as well with non-invasive imaging, that is brilliant.
PEMF TREATMENT AND PAIN MANAGEMENT
Pain management is a widely expanding industry offering an extensive list of both conventional and alternative solutions. Beyond oral medications, point of care treatments and surgical applications, today’s pain sufferer also benefits from an even wider set of options from the “ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT” catalog.
One example is the widely expanding advancements in neuromagnetic therapies, otherwise known as PEMF or BIOFEEDBACK. MAGNETIC THERAPY has been recorded for over 2000 years (Greek physicians in 200BC using lodestones), but it was the evolution of the management of the body’s electromagnetic field through ELECTROTHERAPY with Dr. Guillaume Duchene who first used electricity for muscle stimulation in 1856. Nikola Tesla researched on the potential of pulsed electrotherapy in 1897 just before his invention of the Tesla coil in 1891. This inspired global research and development in the therapeutic community, such that by 1998, the FDA accepted PEMF as “a viable treatment for pain” and PEMF therapy has been FDA approved for a variety of kinds of pain and inflammation. [2]
1) https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/genus
2) https://pemfcomplete.com/the-history-of-pemf-machines/
ROBERT L. BARD, MD, PC, DABR, FASLMS - Advanced Imaging & Diagnostic SpecialistHaving paved the way for the study of various cancers both clinically and academically, Dr. Robert Bard co-founded the 9/11 CancerScan program to bring additional diagnostic support to all first responders from Ground Zero. His main practice in midtown, NYC (Bard Diagnostic Imaging- www.CancerScan.com) uses the latest in digital Imaging technology has been also used to help guide biopsies and in many cases, even replicate much of the same reports of a clinical invasive biopsy. Imaging solutions such as high-powered Sonograms, Spectral Doppler, sonofluoroscopy, 3D/4D Image Reconstruction and the Spectral Doppler are safe, noninvasive, and does not use ionizing radiation. It is used as a complement to find anomalies and help diagnose the causes of pain, swelling and infection in the body’s internal organs while allowing the diagnostician the ability to zoom and ‘travel’ deep into the body for maximum exploration.
