The Physiology of Pain & Injury
as it Applies to the Human Body
by: Stuart W. Titus, PhD

BASIC PAIN & INJURY CAUSES AND INFORMATION:

Degenerative - Pain can be characterized as a degenerative condition where the body is attempting to signal its sense of a stressor affecting the health and integrity of the musculo-skeletal system. In some instances, pain can be felt in a muscle tissue wasting situation, including physical disabilities such as paraplegia and/or reflective of a general sedentary lifestyle. Generally, this can be characterized by mineral deficiencies or malabsorption of minerals.

Injury - Direct trauma to the tissues will result in pain. Fascia will constrict signaling a pain response within the affected tissues.

Stress & the Mind/Body Connection - improper nerve signaling to create "overuse syndrome" where often we see muscles firing or spasm/contracture occurring 24/7 - yes, even at night these muscles are firing- particularly true with TMJ.

Repetitive Use Syndrome - will create lactic acid build up in the muscle tissues, particularly if there has been a severe physical trauma, such as an auto accident or sports injury. Many times the "late effects" of the trauma include lymphatic congestion which amplifies the lactic acid buildup syndrome. A friend and patient of mine was a Microsoft employee who had a few sports injuries and then a severe auto accident. When we first saw him in clinic he was suffering from such severe carpal tunnel syndrome he could not write, carry a plastic grocery bag nor carry his child. Any minor finger movement (typing on a keyboard) would totally exhaust his body's energy and he would have to rest the entire arm for an hour before attempting more finger movement. And this was a healthy, otherwise physically fit individual. About all he could do with his right hand was to turn the key in the ignition switch of his automobile. His treatment and subsequent recovery was truly a lesson in lymphatic and lactic acid physiology.

Abnormalities in Local Electrical Activity - nearly all instances of musculo/skeletal pain include an abnormality (usually a significant reduction) in the local (or possible systemic) electrical activity from the more normal healthy circumstances. Some of these conditions are hereditary, most are acquired through overuse, injury or developmental errors. In these cases, musculo-skeletal pain involves a reduction in the local (or possibly systemic) electrical activity from the normal, healthy condition. Nearly all cases of musculo-skeletal pain can be reversed with proper intervention. Our bodies have enormous capacity to heal - often we need a boost or jump-start - inertia or initiation energy required to turn-on this healing response.

Nerve Entrapment Syndrome - muscle fibers have tightened, shortened or otherwise developed abnormal tensional forces which trap, pinch, strangle normal nerve activity - this signals a pain or alarm response from the musculo-skeletal system.

Nerve Pain - sometimes an injury to the spine can have far-reaching effects down the arms to the elbows or hands; in the lower body the effects may run down to legs to the feet or knees. This can be characterized as "nerve pain" as there is little muscular involvement nor "nerve entrapment" associated with the condition. Most people with this condition are on significant pain medications - in therapy we would attempt to perform nerve-root sedation at the local site and then perform more spinal balancing work at the true source. This nerve pain characterizes about 5% of my pain cases and are generally difficult to effectively treat - here we almost universally recommend a patient take-home device to supplement in-clinic treatments as well as a gradual weaning off of medications.

RECENT HISTORY AND RESEARCH INVOLVING LOW-LEVEL ELECTRICAL STIMULI FOR TREATING PAIN

I have been involved with the therapeutic application of electrical stimuli and the electrical properties of the human body for the past twelve years - since 1996 and I have been performing a specialized type of electrical intervention. For many years I have been involved with various medical groups for therapeutic intervention - so in my career I have seen over 37,000 patient visits. The point is that we are getting positive results for many by working therapeutically with the electrical properties of the human body! The history of electrical intervention dates back to ancient times as well as the late 1800's but it's only been since 1979 that Micro Current stimulation has been fully developed. At this time a group of research scientists were devising ways to improve on the EKG's, EEG's and EMG's on the marketplace - devices that were already testing the electrical properties and measuring the electrical activity of the human body. The researchers postulated that the entire human body is comprised of millions of Micro Current electrical signals and channels - and that the human body could be effectively treated by stimulus with these same electrical signals that were being routinely measured. The first instruments for therapeutic application were developed and refined in time for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Olympic Athletes saw profound results in dealing with injury, pain and performance enhancement. The devices became a domain of the elite professional sport and Olympic athletes which continues through today.

In 1990, two German Medical Doctors were researching the physiological aspects of the cell membrane and made a startling discovery. So amazing was their finding that they earned the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1991. The research quantified the benefits of Micro Current therapy and described the physiological processes of why this style of intervention was having such enormous success.

IMPORTANCE OF THE CELL MEMBRANE

The research of Dr.'s Sakmann and Neher concerned the cell membrane and transport of nutrients across the semi-permeable membrane - and how they might be able to positively affect the waste product departure and nutrient uptake of the cell. After spending considerable time - most of the late 1980's - and research dollars on analyzing a myriad of chemical reactions, they turned their attention to electrical intervention in 1990. Initially they saw rather poor results with TENS-style intervention so they almost gave up the electrical aspect. One day a circuit was malfunctioning and it produced a tremendous result - the one they were looking for. Upon further examination, the research group found that low level - almost imperceptible - amount of current, in the microamperage range - millionths of an ampere worth of electrical current was having tremendous physiological results. The outcome of the research showed that the cell membrane responds to low-level electrical impulses and through a process known as "electroporation" selectively allows for both waste product departure and nutrient uptake. Further they found that each cell contains between 20 and 44 different "voltage-sensitive cellular ion channels" or gates that allow for a specific nutrient to enter the cell. Some channels are specific for calcium, some are specific for potassium, sodium, magnesium, etc. By the application of a variety of frequencies (with the proper waveform) at the microamperage intensity of output, one could potentially affect the overall nutrient uptake through the cell's membrane while at same time providing a great detoxification benefit. The only potential side-effect was a "Herxheimer reaction" where one could effect too rapid a detoxification reaction in sensitive individuals. Otherwise the researchers found they were strengthening the integrity of the cell membrane while increasing ATP reserves in muscle cells - the very fuel that drives cellular activity. Continuing their inquiry, these gentlemen found that even in the most paralyzed of cells and even in the cells damaged as incision scar tissue, nutrient uptake could be affected.

With sufficient treatment of the proper output, tensional forces on the muscle and connective tissues could be reduced, nerve conduction would improve and the insulation or myelin sheath of both muscle and nerve would be enhanced. Further, local blood flow and circulation were shown to increase, range of motion increased and muscular spasm decreased. Over time, muscle tissue atrophy could be arrested and even new muscle mass could be built. The appearance of incision scar tissue would begin to soften and eventually fully heal to the point where one would not be able to see the old scar. Although the research could have taken an approach toward the many positive cardio-vascular effects, the two Germans decided to focus on three topics: fertility, cystic fibrosis and diabetes. Here it was shown that fertility is an electrical phenomena - when sperm meets egg and there were a host of positive things electro-therapy could do to enhance the chance of fertilization. All cells have electrical charges within and outside the cell and the difference is known as the electrical potential. Fertilization changes this potential so as to prevent other sperm from joining the fertilized egg. Secondly, the researchers examined cystic fibrosis, a leading genetic disease among the white, Caucasian demographic group. Here they found that the condition was caused by a missing or defective chloride ion channel… later, that the condition could be reversed by opening this pathway into the unhealthy cells. With regard to diabetes, the research showed that diabetes can result from production of inadequate amounts of insulin to properly control blood sugar. The research showed that the release of insulin from the Pancreas is controlled in part by electrical activity through ion channels that are sensitive to ATP, a natural substance that fuels cellular activity. The production of insulin could be stimulated by affecting these ATP-controlled channels. See the October 8, 1991 NY Times Science Times article: Cell Channel Finding Earns Nobel Prize for more information.

OXYGENATION EFFECTS

From the combined research efforts of various groups, it does appear that proper electrical stimuli allows for increased enzymatic activity, thus breaking up any undigested protein clusters that can clog or block lymphatic pathways and blood capillaries. This same effect also seems to "thin out" both the blood as well as the lymph, increasing its viscosity and thus circulatory properties. More nutrients are brought in range of the cells and wastes are more readily flushed away for eventual elimination. The electrical stimuli restores a more normal electrical repelling charge to the red blood cells, breaking up any tendency to clump (or Roleau) as seen under special blood-examination microscopes. This process appears to provide extra surface area for the cell to absorb more oxygen from the respiration process and the extra electrical charge appears to enhance this electrical attraction for oxygen uptake. In certain microscopic blood work, a great measure of success in treating long-term, chronic conditions or advanced degenerative disease is the breaking-up of the Roleau in the red blood cells. The increased oxygenation seems to kick in a parasympathetic nervous system response: the body relaxes its muscular tension, brain waves are slowed and many other positive benefits begin to accrue (see the works of Dr Kirsch on neuro-transmitter release and systemic improvements in health, medical conditions, etc - some of which is under his web site www.alpha-stim.com).

So with this overview, in getting back to pain and effective therapy, the need becomes very apparent to restore the proper electrical balances within the body. More importantly, for the area of concern, the need arises to restore the proper electrical potential to the cell membrane - again this is the difference in the electrical charge inside and immediately outside the cell membrane.

As research from people like Dr. Klinghardt and Albert Fleckenstein of Friedburg University in Germany shows, the restoration of the normal electrical potential to the cell membrane is the single most important event in the alleviation of chronic pain and tissue dysfunction.

Bringing this to therapy, one treatment will have a positive effect, subsequent treatments will have a cumulative effect as the body returns to more optimal function: there is a relationship between tissue oxygenation and the length of time in therapeutic intervention. The younger, healthier, more vital individual has a greater healing capacity than the elderly, severely arthritically crippled individual.

Zeroing in on pain, 90%+ of the patients I see have dysfunctional muscle tonus creating, at least in part, nerve entrapment, or what I term "nerve entrapment" syndrome. Here the muscle fibers have wrapped and twisted out of place away from their normal, anatomically correct orientation and are trapping, pinching or pressing the nerve askew for the normal orientation or onto adjacent muscle fibers. Occasionally these twisted muscle fibers may be at a sufficiently deep level so as to press the nerve onto a bone. When the muscle fibers wrap and twist or when they become adhered to neighboring muscle layers (through lactic acid buildup) this shortens the natural length, creating anatomical (structural imbalance), range of motion disorders, etc. Pain is the result.

In treatment, our initial aim is to get the patient into a relaxed, responsive mode - kicking in this parasympathetic response mentioned earlier. Here we can access the optimal fashion to effective treat the muscle tissue and then the nerve. Several factors can be noted: the acupuncture connection; structural stress factors; the toxic, fibrous deposits on or between the muscle fibers (geloses, myogeloses, fibrocities, calcium deposits, crystalline deposits, etc); lactic acid buildup; adhesion between muscle layers, restricted range of motion, poor nerve conductivity… once the muscle portion has been adequately addressed, we can then look at the nerve.

Please note that nutritional support is very complimentary to the pain and injury treatment program.

FASCIA AND INJURY

Allow me to speak for a minute on fascia - the Latin derivation mean "bands" and within the human body the fascial network is incredible. Those familiar with it will consider it an organ, those who practition the Rolf Method would call it "the organ of support" within our body's. One would not expect a skeleton to stand on its own and even with muscles placed on this skeleton there remains poor structural integrity to the human form. The tight enwrapping of these fascial bands and long sheets or planes of fascia that stretch from head to toe constitute our structure. The fascia makes Johnny's walk characteristically his, or it will differentiate Tiger Wood's golf swing from yours and mine. Fascia is how we recognize your face as uniquely you - it characterizes your movements, flexibility and is very responsive to stress and trauma - physical, mental and/or emotional. In my estimation, fascial imbalance is responsible for 90%+ of all musculo-skeletal pain. Fascia enwraps every muscle, tendon, ligament, bone and internal organ of the human body - my belief is that these fascial fibers actually penetrate into the muscles and bones of our structure. For an example, let's look at an athlete with a shoulder imbalance where one shoulder is higher than the other. Pain may be felt at the shoulder blade area deep within the rhomboid muscles - often the root cause is a rotation of the pelvis on the thorax or a hip imbalance. By addressing and balancing things below, the shoulder girdle will have a more optimal place to align itself and then subsequent work on the painful shoulder will have a more permanent, lasting effect. So by looking at the body holistically, by looking at these diagonal interconnections, we can have excellent effectiveness at the long term solution to pain and imbalance.

When stressed or injured, the fascia will respond by tightening down its normal tensional forces, in order to prevent further injury or damage to the affected area. This can be felt by a little experiment: try a good stretch - if you try to go too far, the body will signal an alarm response and "talk" to us: "okay I've had enough, no further". Fascia will respond over time - so if you stay with the stretch near to the maximum for several minutes, one may find they can go further into the stretch as the fascia will now "allow" it to happen, hence the long term benefits of Yoga. But getting back to injury, the fascia will tighten and often continue to tighten over a long period of time - many headaches and other pain are felt in the weeks ensuing an automobile accident after the momentum of the crash and fascial adhesion have continued to take a toll on the physical structure. So even when healed of a childhood injury, the fascia holds the memory of the trauma and to a degree "forgets" to fully let go. If enough trauma has occurred, the body may begin "fighting" itself even to perform the simplest of tasks, draining energy reserves. So the muscles loose their effortless gliding and sliding of layers during movement - by unpeeling these layers we can return proper musculo-skeletal alignment and functionality to the body. When an individual experiences excessive fascial tension, the result is to squeeze off nutrition, blood flow, lymph to the affected area - over time (as can even be seen with former great athletes - retired football players, for instance) this will lead to a degenerative structure. So do not overlook connective tissue in your programs and therapies when dealing with pain.

Another hint is to look at the face - often we can clearly read the pain in an individuals' body on the facial features. These muscles are hard-wired to the brain so if you're not having results, try to undo the pain from the facial muscles and then you'll find the muscles you've been working with to suddenly become more resilient and ready to accept therapy to a better degree.

ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL AND CELL DIVISION

One quick last note: when cells divide, the electrical potential - remember this as being the difference in the electrical charge inside and outside the cell membrane - the electrical potential of a cell will drop when it divides. If the normal potential is measured at -70millivolts, the dividing cell shows around - 15millivolts of electrical potential. In cancer, what happens? The cells are stuck at this low potential and the cells begin rapidly dividing. There are schools of thought that theorize that genetic and cellular mutations occur when this cellular division mechanism gets stuck at this low electrical level - here the signal is for the cells to divide and divide and divide. Apply the proper electrical impulses and guess what? This inappropriate cell division seems to cease. Another great research topic for us down the road!

Combined with other alternative approaches - any nutritional support program is enhanced with open cell membranes for optimal absorption - this really gets results for people. So Micro Current electro-therapy can be highly effective to support someone undergoing a Chelation therapy program - generally the cell membranes remain "open" for up to three hours following treatment, allowing for increased absorption of nutrients and acceleration of waste product departure.

Questions? You can always e-mail me - see our web site for more information:
www.HealUsNow.com or e-mail: info@HealUsNow.com

I do have available some good information, including an article on Fascia, Collagen and Connective Tissue. In our anatomical and medical text books, we hardly ever see fascia even mentioned. In cadaver dissections, it is usually just cut away and thought of as highly unimportant and a nuisance. Interestingly enough, this a highly effective communication network for the body to interact with the brain - if I knew more about computers I might say that the fascia is like the silicone chips of a circuit board… it is where the real communication takes place.

I hope this helps you to understand pain and how subtle energetic impulses can open these important access pathways into the very cells of our bodies. Penetrating into the cell is the key - viruses, harmful bacteria, heavy metals all live here, thus escaping a good deal of detection of the immune system. By pulsating these entities out from their hiding place inside the cell these entities become more "visible" to the body's immune defenses and be cleaned out of the system. Electrical pulsations of the right type can cause viruses, pathogens, etc to fall off the DNA receptor sites and then become more "visible" to the immune defenses. This is a trend in the field of Biological Medicine - marking these invaders to the body's reserves.