Microstim for Neuropathic Pain

059-OMDPodcast-Microstim-for-Neuropathic-Pain

Carlyle

Hello, and welcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. I am Carlyle Coash. How are you doing today Dr. Miller?

Dr. Miller

Well, here in Northern California, it is a pretty nice day. Blue skies, although we are back in another windy phase, so everybody is worried. We are still right in the heart of fire season and more fires are definitely possible. No rain in the forecast, and dry like you would not believe, and dusty, but today is a good day. I am grateful.

This is the next, actually, the third one we are doing in a series on talking about the use of the micro stim unit and treating things with microcurrent stimulation. We have been trying to focus on things that are maybe not the first things you think about when you think about the use of microcurrent stimulation. These are things that have had research and publications, so there is good data that these things have been studied and are safe and effective.

Today, we are going to be talking about the use of microcurrent stimulation in treating the pain of neuropathy, or neuropathic pain. Again, it is one of those things that multiple things can cause it. You see it commonly in diabetic neuropathy, or it is referred to as diabetic neuropathy, people with more advanced diabetes. You can see it after strokes, you can see it very commonly after chemotherapy, and you can see it with other things that affect the circulation in the lower extremities especially, such as vascular disease. The chemotherapy can affect the hands and the feet. Most of the time, though, the circulation is poorer in the feet.

That is part of why microcurrent stimulation is sort of a special sauce in dealing with neuropathic pain. Number one, it is just a very effective technology for helping treat pain. It is a much more sophisticated thing than simply a simple 10s unit that is just applying a counter irritant electrical stimulation. This is actually a complex waveform, that tends to impair the transmission of pain, but also engages with the tissues to do things, like improving blood circulation in the small vessels and improving cellular metabolism by increasing ATP production, adenosine triphosphate. These are all things that have been proven and studied in animal models and humans.

So, you are not just treating the pain, you are actually doing some things that may conceivably help even with the healing. But if all we did was manage the pain, that would be great because the pain can be very debilitating with these different things with neuropathy. And I know you saw that with all the work you did in hospice

Carlyle

Oh, for sure. Especially with cancer patients. And it is just one more insult, if you will. Usually a person is already dealing with so many other things, then this particular side effect is uncomfortable, and painful, and impacts quality of life, so having ways to work with it is important

Dr. Miller

Yeah, and just a little disclaimer here. I just want to say that cancer itself, different kinds of cancers, lung cancers, other kinds of cancers, can cause neuropathy. Not because of the chemotherapy, but the cancer itself can result in a neuropathy. Diabetes can result in neuropathy because of the decreased function of the small vessels, and especially the small vessels that feed and nourish the nerves themselves. So, you have this complex thing.

I just say this because if someone shows up with neuropathy and you are some sort of practitioner, and they have no reason to have it, that you know of, you have to be asking yourself, does this person have diabetes? Could this person have a cancer? You do not want to just dive in and start treating the pain of the neuropathy. You have an obligation to look a little further, do a little work to rule out these common things that themselves can cause neuropathy so you do not miss…You do not just treat the pain, miss the underlying problem.

The therapies need to be a little bit tailored for the person. It depends if it is in their feet versus in their calves versus in their entire leg versus in their hands. We have a few protocols that we are going to post on the podcast page, but if you are not quite sure how you would use the micro stem unit to treat neuropathy, or you are not sure how you would get your hands on a micro stim unit so you can do these treatments at home, just give us a call, we are here to help. We really want to help you get your hands on the things that will help you, and help you use them properly.

It is quite simple, really, but you do need to buy a machine because these machines are cheap, and the effective protocols for treating these things require that you do treatments virtually every day. Almost five or six days a week, you can take one day off, but it is just an impractical thing to really have you wander off to a practitioners office every day for a therapy. That becomes just a hassle, but it also becomes quite expensive. So, the cost of a unit suddenly looks quite the bargain

Carlyle

You know, for sure. I think with the other episodes in this series, all of the things that we have talked about in terms of paying attention to diet, and exercise, and other things, all of that potentially can help. As we have seen with microcurrent stimulation, it can be a great support, but it also works well with other things that you are doing. It certainly can be effective on its own, but doing other things that help make it more effective is always good. That meaning diet, exercise, stress relief, all of these things that work in concert with each other to benefit your well-being

Dr. Miller

Right, and that is where it is really useful to engage with this technology with the help of a practitioner. Somebody who can help you use the technology effectively. The technology is safe, there is no chance you are going to harm yourself, but to use it in a way that you are really going to get the maximum benefit from it. Also, somebody who thinks in an integrative way, who will integrate in all these other things you just mentioned Carlyle. Things like healthy diet, proper exercise, dealing with the other aspects of human nutrition, like love and forgiveness, and just really the total package of things you need to be really healthy, and to manage even serious disease

Carlyle

I like thinking of that, forgiveness and love as part of your nutritional practice. I like that.


Dr. Miller

Yeah, there is a woman I know, she is doing a program in integrative nutrition. She lives up in Canada, and I am not sure which program she is doing, but she asked me if I would be a guinea pig for her. She has to do these health histories as part of her training. I said, “Sure, I will do it.” But it is interesting because the 11 core nutritional elements that this course teaches her about, none of the 11 involved foods. It is things like love, and serenity, and transcendence, and faith. I like that approach because those things, you know we talked about them, they are all really important

Carlyle

Essential.


Dr. Miller

Yeah

Carlyle

Thank you so much, Dr. Miller

Dr. Miller

Well, thank you, and like I say, you can contact us. Please like this podcast, subscribe, share it with your friends.

The next one we are going to be doing is talking about the difference between the technology of microcurrent stimulation and some other technologies that are out there, like pulsed electromagnetic frequencies, Beamer mats, magnets, and basically why having looked at all of those, we continue to use the microcurrent stimulation. We found that to be the most powerful, the most effective, the cheapest. This has got everything going for it, so we stick with that in our in our office
Thank you.