Microstim for Carpal Tunnel Pain Heal

057_OMDPodcast-MicroStim-for-Carpal-Tunnel-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
I am doing well, thank you Carlyle. And you? How are you doing down there?

Carlyle
Hey, I am in one piece, so every day is a blessing.

Dr. Miller

Yeah, I consider that a miracle as we are in some pretty difficult times here. And the fact that my life has not completely imploded, I think is definitely proof that miracles exist.
We are going to be doing a series of talks about the use of the microcurrent stimulation unit that we use in the office here. Specifically, I wanted to talk about some of the things that you can use this technology for.
The micro stim company, decades ago, developed a small portable unit, which is really of excellent quality and affordable. Most of these things that you are doing with microcurrent stimulation, you really need to do the treatments almost daily, sometimes for weeks and months. It becomes completely unfeasible, and almost impossible, to be running into a doctor's office four or five days a week and paying them for a treatment with an office machine when you do not need to. You can treat yourself quite effectively at home if you have a little bit of instruction of what to do.
Today I wanted to focus on carpal tunnel syndrome, not because it is the biggest problem that people have, but there have been some very excellent published studies that talk about the use of microcurrent stimulation in relieving the pain and discomfort of carpal tunnel syndrome. We are going to be including references, as well as some of the protocols that have been developed as downloads on the podcast page. Certainly, if it feels too difficult and you need some help, you can contact me in my office and we can set up a phone consultation to really get you going with these. I just think this is a problem that physicians do surgery for, but the surgeons will be the first to tell you that the surgery often is not 100% effective. Sometimes it is not effective at all.
As you know Carlyle, we try to figure out ways to do things without having to put people at risk. If I am not mistaken, you said, in the past, you have had trouble with carpal tunnel, haven't you?

Carlyle
Yeah, in the past. Actually, it has come back a bit because I am doing so much more work on the computer. Not that I did not before, but usually there was a good balance between computer time and out in the world time; being outside or going to an office. To be inside all the time, thanks to COVID, I have had a few days where that old carpal tunnel issue has kind of resurfaced, if you will. As you said, my first instinct is not to go and do an operation, but to try a number of different things. I have used the micro stim in the past for that issue, as well as massage and stretching and other things to manage it.

Dr. Miller
Yeah, and that has worked for you.

Carlyle

Oh yeah, for sure. So much of it is being aware of the issue of what is causing it. Obviously, if I am at my computer, I have been at my computer for hours, and now my arm and elbow are sore from that particular work, and sitting in that position.
What can I do to change up my routine? What can I do to make sure that I am stretching and getting work done on that part of my body, especially my arm and shoulder, so that it does not get over aggravated. Prevention, right? What a notion.

Dr. Miller
Yes, prevention because this is one of the classic repetitive stress injuries. Interestingly, it is seen mainly with computers and word-processing; it was not seen so much when people were using mechanical typewriters.
Just to say one thing, the carpel tunnel is down at the wrist. What often happens with people, especially when this begins to be a little chronic, meaning they do not take care of it because they only have a little wrist pain, but it migrates up the arm. Eventually, it involves not just the wrist, but the elbow, the shoulder, and even the neck. It becomes kind of a cranial brachial syndrome, that is the official word for it, meaning head-arm syndrome, but often it begins with carpal tunnel.

Carlyle

Yeah, it radiates all the way up my arm when it is really bad.

Dr. Miller
Yeah, that is common. If you have bad neck and shoulder pain, and you think it is because of using the computer, then this is a protocol that you want to do. Interestingly, the protocol that we are going to be putting up along with the podcast is from Dr. Margaret Naeser. She is somebody who has done a lot with acupuncture. In fact, she was on the three-year study that the National Institutes of Health did looking at the effectiveness of acupuncture. She was one of the people they tapped to help with that study, that was back in the 80s.
She put together a combo protocol, where you were doing needleless acupuncture using a low wattage laser to stimulate the acupuncture points. It turns out that is a very good way, without a needle, to stimulate the acupuncture points. You could also use pressure, I guess, but her technique uses the laser to stimulate the acupuncture points together with the microcurrent stimulation. She published a couple of papers on that, which showed really remarkable improvement. People had improvement of their pain, and that is really what it is all about with carpal tunnel syndrome.
You need to do these conservative things, maybe walk away from the computer for a while, let it heal, and treat the pain. This is a way to do all of those things without taking pain meds, things get better, and they get better quickly. That is the bottom line, there is really not much more to be said about this. We have a protocol to help you with the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome. It is done together with some other things that help increase the speed of the healing, and all of this is a way to take care of the problem without drugs or surgery.
So, download the papers that are on the podcast page, and when you find this useful, please like us, share this post, and subscribe to our podcast page because we are going to be having more things coming about how to use this remarkable technology. Once you own a unit, there is a lot you can do for you, your family, and your friends.

Carlyle

I am always amazed at how much research has been done about microcurrent stimulation that either people do not know about, or are unaware, or it just it gets lost in the shuffle. It is encouraging to see these kinds of studies done because it can be effective.

Dr. Miller
Yeah, and in the future, some of the other articles that are coming that we are going to be talking about deals with the pain of chronic wounds, like diabetic foot ulcers or even non-healing brown recluse spider bites. We are going to be talking about neuropathy for a variety of causes, diabetic neuropathy, neuropathy related to cancer and chemotherapy, neuropathy related to vascular disease in the legs. We are going to be talking about how to use the microcurrent stimulation to treat the pain of acute injuries, so sprained ankles, sprained elbows, sprained backs, chronic back pain, all these things. You just cannot believe how remarkable this technology is, until you use it. So, thank you.

Carlyle
All right. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Miller. We will talk to you soon.

Dr. Miller
Thank you. Stay healthy, be well. Bye, bye.