Oh, what is that”? That is the typical response I get when someone asks me if I do acupuncture and I tell them no. I do IMS, intramuscular stimulation. Let’s go over the history of IMS, what it is and what type of conditions it can help to treat.
Taken from: https://news.ubc.ca/
Dr. Chan Gunn is a western trained medical doctor, MD, and a traditional chinese medicine doctor, TCM. Back in the 1970’s, Dr. Gunn was working with WorkSafe BC and made an observation in clients with low back pain. He noticed that the patients with tight bands in the low back muscles were off work 3-4 times as long as patients that did not have the tight bands in the low back muscles. He did more research and discovered Cannon’s and Rosenblueth’s Law of Denervation Supersensitivity. Click here to read more about this cool law in nature.
Taken from: https://www.shelbournephysio.ca/
Basically, the law states that muscles want a certain amount of nerve impulses to keep it functioning normal. If there is a disruption to the number of nerve impulses, the muscle, will try to compensate by making itself supersensitive. This is the basis for the IMS theory.
The supersensitive nerve endings cause shortened muscle fibers. These shortened muscle fibres can lead to chronic types of pain. Changes to the function of these nerves were not visible by X-ray or MRI, painkillers merely masked the pain, and surgery was not an option.
Inspired by this research, IMS practitioners use acupuncture needles to release this tension and soothe overly irritated nerves. Some examples of conditions that respond well to IMS are: tennis elbow, chronic low back pain, headaches, stiff necks and tendonitis.
What to Expect
In your first IMS session, the physiotherapist performs a thorough evaluation of your movement, strength and function. Various tests are done including muscle strength, range of motion and reflex testing. Hands on examination of the skin and muscles is completed both at the area of pain as well as along the spine to evaluate changes brought about by unhealthy nerves. Inspecting the spine is very important, as the nerve to the arms originate from the neck and the leg nerve come from the low back. Looking at the spine helps to find another possible source of the problem, not just the pain felt in the arms or legs.
The achy and tight muscles that you feel when you have ongoing pain has a physical basis because every muscle in your body is wired up to a network of nerves, but when nerve flow becomes blocked the nerve can behave erratically and causes changes in the muscle (see Law of Denervation Supersensitivity, above). The result can include muscle weakness and most often knotty, tight and painful muscles.
Taken from: https://leducphysio.ca/
The physiotherapist uses fine acupuncture needles to get into the irritated muscle bands. Next, the physiotherapist uses the fine art of touch - healthy and relaxed muscles yield easily; unhappy ones provide increased resistance. An aggravated muscle contracts and twitches when stimulated by the acupuncture needle, causing an ache that can last a few seconds.
There are a number of changes that take place when the needle is inserted into an aggravated muscle. First off, special receptors in the tendons are activated by the muscle contraction and these receptors send messages to the muscle to relax again. What’s more, this tiny “injury” created by the needle boosts healing blood flow to the area bringing many healing chemicals to the area (this is what may cause the aching later on). Ultimately, inserting the needle also creates what’s called an “electric potential” which acts almost like a reset switch for your nerves to function normally again.
How Does it Feel?
The experience of an IMS treatment greatly varies from person to person. Irritated muscles respond to a needle by cramping, aching or contracting – though it is not the needle causing the pain, but the muscles response to it. This response can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful for people, but it's temporary. Your level of discomfort is in some ways dictated by the level of nerve dysfunction and decreases as the nerve returns to normal function.
It’s understandable if you might be a little anxious about your first session, but our IMS trained physiotherapists work with you to help minimize any potential discomfort. The most common side effect of the treatment is soreness to the treated areas-not unlike being sore from a work-out at the gym. By placing heat or doing light exercise can help to reduce the discomfort. Some may experience bruising from the treatment but this tends to heal in a couple of days. If you have a medical condition or take medications that increase your risk of bruising and bleeding please let us know before the assessment.
Is IMS the Same as Acupuncture?
While it’s true that IMS uses acupuncture needles, the two techniques are actually quite different. IMS was developed from an evidence based, Western model of medicine. By looking at an individual’s nerve functioning, a therapist can identify areas of hypersensitivity and work directly to release tension. Neuropathy, or dysfunction of the nerves, has been found to cause a whole range of muscle based problems otherwise known as myofascial pain syndromes.
Acupuncture, on the other hand, is much older and based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). By seeing the human body in terms of energy meridians, acupuncture practitioners manipulate chi and blood flow to restore and heal the body.
While an acupuncturist will insert needles into pre-defined points along these energy channels, an IMS practitioner will examine you thoroughly to find out your unique biomechanical patterns of nerve and muscle functioning.
Taken from: http://www.kamloopsphysiotherapy.ca/
Could You Benefit from IMS?
IMS is perfect for those nagging aches that just don’t seem to go away, even when the injury that originally caused them is no longer there. Some clues that you may be experiencing muscle shortening or over-sensitive nerves
include:
Stiffness and a decreased range of movement
Shortened muscles with tender “trigger points”
A feeling of heat and burning in the area
Deep aches
Occasional short, sharp bursts of pain
Extreme sensitivity to touch
Our experienced IMS trained physiotherapist will be able to examine you thoroughly and determine exactly what is behind your chronic pain. By targeting several muscles at once, and over the course of a few sessions, the pain signals can be “switched off” and the muscles given the chance to release and return to normal.
Lots of help for this blog post from one of physiotherapy classmates Tenielle MaGee. She is currently the owner of Leduc Physiotherapy (and one smart cookie).
If you would like to see her original post here is the link:
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