Neural therapy – a holistic pain treatment
Neural therapy is an injection therapy with local anesthesia performed by doctors and dentists. The therapy is practiced in over 30 countries worldwide and is most widespread in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where over 30,000 doctors and dentists perform various forms of neural therapy treatment. Particularly from 1990 onwards, several universities in Europe and the United States have carried out basic research work on the medical effects of local anaesthetics and neural therapy, and provided neural therapy with a broader scientific basis. There is a standardised education programme at several universities and medical associations.
In Switzerland, the neural therapy is approved by referendum in the public health program, and the treatment is reimbursed by the Swiss social security system. Studies from Switzerland also show that doctors who have used this therapy in their practice have reduced their prescribing of drugs (both painkillers and other drugs) by at least 50 %.
Neural therapy is considered a safe form of treatment. It takes seriously a fundamental requirement of medicine, as formulated by the “father of medicine” Hippocrates: ”Primum non nocere”, which means that the most important thing is not to do any harm in medical treatment. In practice, this means that the drug used does not cause addiction or negative side effects. Doctors all over the world have been using procaine as a local anesthetic since 1905, and experience shows that it is one of the safest drugs in use in medicine today.
Neural therapy is a holistic form of treatment that works via the influence of the nervous system, which in turn helps to control all the body’s functions. All pain conditions are caused by disturbances in the nervous system. In treatment, the patient’s entire medical history is taken into account, with special emphasis on previous injuries, operations and infections that can leave “traces” in the memory of the nervous system. Particularly long-term pain conditions can lead to a chronic change in the body’s pain network.
With neural therapy, you try to erase these pain memories and give the nervous system an opportunity to find a state without pain reactions. This is achieved without daily intake of drugs that cause side effects. All experience with neural therapy shows that patients either largely reduce or completely get rid of pain-relieving drugs during the course of treatment. The level of functioning improves, and the quality of life increases significantly.
Because Procaine is not addictive or toxic, it can be safely used during pregnancy as well. This is important, as the neural therapy works very well for women with pelvic dysplasia.
Neural therapy is a safe form of treatment for all types of acute and chronic pain conditions and is therefore worth trying for anyone who has not yet received satisfactory help from conventional medical treatment.
Links:
Neuraltherapie-online.de (Germany), Santh.ch (Switzerland), Neuraltherapie.at (Austria), Terapianeural.com (Spain)
Relevant sources:
Egli S, Pfister M, Ludin SM et al. Können Lokalanästhetika (Neuraltherapie) bei überwiesenen, therapieresistenten, chronischen Schmerzpatienten einen Circulus vitiosus durchbrechen? Neurophysiologie und klinische Daten. Doctoral thesis, University of Bern 2010 (in press).
Comment: All patients with chronic pain referred in writing were examined by doctors during a defined period of time. After an average of 9 consultations over the course of a year, 78% of these chronic, previously therapy-resistant pain patients experienced either an improvement in their ailments or even complete healing.
Mermod J, Fischer L, Staub L and others. Patient satisfaction of primary care for musculoskeletal diseases: A comparison between Neural Therapy and conventional medicine. BMC 2008; 8/33:1-10. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/8/33
Comment: This large study with a total of 405 patients showed significantly better treatment outcomes for patients treated with neural therapy (compared to conventional treatment). In the neural therapy group, fewer cases of disability could also be prescribed.
Bissig P, Schoeni-Affolter F, Fischer L et al. Is neural therapy cheaper than conventional medicine? A comparison of cost structure in Swiss primary care providers – An observational study. Doctoral dissertation from the University of Bern 2008 (under publication).
Comment: Comparison of purely conventional basic medical treatment with the same treatment with the addition of neural therapy. A total of 4103 patients were included. The annual treatment costs were the same for both groups (although more severe, chronically ill patients were treated in the neural therapy group, but differences were found in the cost structure: for example, the neural therapy patients had significantly less need for medication. In the same group, the patients also needed less physiotherapy, and fewer were declared incapacitated. Laboratory costs were also lower in the neural therapy group.
Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2006 Mar; 50(3):265-82.
Anti-inflammatory properties of local anesthetics and their present and potential clinical implications click here!
Clin Ter. 2009; 160(6):445-9.
[Our experiences in chronic benign pain by injecting local anaesthetic into scars].
[Article in Italian]
Barbagli P1, Bollettin R.
Author information
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To refer a possible resolving treatment of chronic benign pain by injecting local anaesthetics into scars.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:This
original article consists of 7 interesting cases who have been extracted by a group of 2145 patients treated with local anaesthetic (lidocaine 0.5-1%), of one or more than one scar.
RESULTS:
The clinical and therapeutical data of a 2 years follow up show that in these 7 cases of chronic benign pain, treated by injecting local anaesthetic (lidocaine 0.5-1%) into one or more scars, the algic symptomatology stably disappeared.
CONCLUSIONS:
This record of cases confirms the hypothesis of a possible aetiological role of scars in causing benign chronic painful syndromes, as stated by Brothers Huneke in the 40’s and validated by a recent review on the topic.