Article 005
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Vibrational Medicine For Acupuncturists, Part II:
Pain Control With Microcurrent and Color Light Therapies
by Darren Starwynn, O.M.D., Dipl. Ac.
Article for submission in 'Acupuncture Today'
Pain is a powerful phenomenon, a decidedly unpleasant set of sensations that motivate us very strongly. It is estimated that Americans spend over $100 billion dollars a year dealing with all aspects of pain, including medications, therapies and time lost at work. Much of the income of acupuncturists and other allied health professionals is derived from the motivation of our patients to escape pain.
According to Western science, pain is associated with complex inter-relationships between the nervous system, spinal cord, thalamus, higher brain, neuro-peptide substances and emotions derived from cultural and past personal programming. Traditional Asian medical systems relate pain more to short-term or longstanding blockages in the flow and integrity of Blood, vital energy (Qi) and Spiritual substances within the circulatory networks of the body. In either case, pain can be viewed as a kind of alarm, an urgent message from the body-mind-spirit entity that something is out of balance in the system, and must be corrected to maintain health and homeostasis, or even life itself. In this way pain is useful, in fact a lifesaver at times, when it alerts us to take urgent action for survival and self-care. Yet in a lot of cases, pain becomes a self-perpetuating experience that remains long after the actual damage to the body is resolved. In some cases, such as with fibromyalgia or some neuropathies, severe pain can arise when there is no apparent injury to the body. It is these chronic pain cases that most challenge the Western pain paradigm.
One of the great contributions Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has made is the understanding of the Root and Branch of pain (and other disorders). In its simplest form, the Root refers to underlying causative factors that pre-dispose a patient to pain. These may involve longstanding emotional upsets and repression, viral or parasitic effects, organ imbalances, unresolved old injuries, or hereditary or Karmic1 past influences. The Branch of pain refers to the actual sensations of pain, restricted range of motion, joint degeneration or vertebral mis-alignments. The sensation of pain can be associated with any dysfunctional bodily system, not just the nervous system.
We may say that there are two primary levels at which the body’s systems may become blocked or shut down, leading to pain. One is the physiologic level, the other is the informational level. Physiologic level is that of the functioning of tissues, organs and bio-chemistry, and is largely orchestrated by electrical feedback systems. The informational level is that of subtle energy regulatory and communication systems, and is primarily based on light transmissions. Research has shown that all living things communicate with each other, and the environment, through electro-magnetic field resonance and light radiations. Please see my last article, and its bibliography, in the July issue of Acupuncture Today for more on this subject.
Western pain treatments focus almost exclusively on physiologic treatment. Analgesic drugs stimulate bio-chemical reactions that reduce inflammation, block nerve impulses and switch on pain-controlling centers in the brain and spinal cord. Physiologic non-drug approaches include physical therapies, spinal manipulation and electro-therapies. Most acupuncture pain treatment also primarily works on this level, albeit with a much more balanced and refined approach. Acupuncture can also work on an informational level through the energetic rapport between practitioner and patient, when the practitioner communicates her clear Qi through the needles or direct bio-field interface. Much of the healing interaction between practitioner and patient is based on light communication.
Externally applied colored light therapies is the treatment technique that most directly informs the body’s subtle energy systems. Light affects and travels through the body even more readily than nerve impulses, bio-chemicals or electricity. Colored light can influence Root aspects of pain in very specific ways.
Because physiologic and informational therapies each have valuable effects for different levels of pain control, I have researched ways of combining these therapies. I have designed and use a probe device that delivers simultaneous microcurrent and colored light to acu-points and regions. Using this approach, I have had great success in treating many patients with recalcitrant pain conditions, often addressing both Root and Branch of their imbalance. Following are some clinical examples from my practice and that of my colleague, Dr. Leong of Las Vegas, using this form of combination energy medicine. I base my selection of color on time-tested clinical indications for each color, confirmed with O-Ring muscle testing (kinesiology).
Case #1: Female, age 55, Shoulder Pain - Patient complained of chronic pain, with restricted range of motion, in the left scapular region, which had not been improved by massage or manipulation. She received two treatments, after which the pain was 95% reduced and movement was much easier.
Tx 1 – Noticing that she had leg length imbalance that I suspected was contributing to the shoulder pain, I used microcurrent and colored light on Extraordinary Vessel confluent points of Dai Mai/Yang Wei vessels as follows: Negative microcurrent on GB 41 on longer leg, positive probe on TW 5 on opposite arm. Light color: Green for Wood element and energetic balance. Next, I used positive probe on SI 3 and negative probe on same side UB 62, bilaterally. Light color: Blue for Water element and anti-inflammatory effect. Treatment times: 20 seconds per set of points. After this treatment the patient’s legs were the same length. Next, I used the positive probe on the painful shoulder area points, with the negative probe on the Mandel shoulder point on the lower abdomen, also with blue color light. This point is two finger widths above the navel, about 2 finger widths to the right or left. Palpate for most sensitive point. During the course of the treatment, the patient and I intuitively connected with a Root cause of her pain – “shouldering” the burden of carrying a disempowering belief in suffering passed down through many generations of women in her ancestry. In the heightened state of awareness the session opened, she declared a new decision to not carry that burden any longer.
Tx 2 – Patient reported feeling about “90% better” over the 2 weeks since the first session, and only needed a tune-up. Energetic diagnosis revealed imbalance in the Heart-Gall Bladder polar meridian pair. <2> I used polarized probes again, and first placed the positive probe on Ht 9 and negative probe on Ht 7, followed by positive on GB 43 and negative on GB 38. Magenta light was used with the microcurrent with both sets of points for emotional balance. This was followed by biphasic probe treatment of the front and back of the affected shoulder region, including acu-point Ren 22, using yellow light for benefit of the lymphatic system. Finally, we concluded the session with about 5 minutes of electro-massage. <3> The patient felt close to 100% improved after this session.Case #2: Female, Age 37, Knee pain – After a day of hiking, the friend had severe pain in the lateral left knee, around the area of the fibular head. The pain made walking difficult. I first used local and distal acupuncture needles for first aid, which reduced the pain about 50%. Walking was still difficult. The next day I applied polarized microcurrent and light, using the positive probe on several painful knee points and the negative probe applied to LI 11 and Pc 6 on the opposite arm. After this I applied the positive probe to UB 40 on the back of the knee with the negative probe on the Mandel knee point on the front of the opposite shoulder (palpate for most sensitive point). She muscle tested strongly for turquoise color light, which has both anti-inflammatory and energy balancing effects, and this was applied with the probe treatment on all points. The probes were then set to biphasic and used to treat sets of local knee points with “circling the dragon” technique. <4>
....................................................1 Karma is a Sansrit word that refers to highly-charged and unresolved personal issues from the past that cause suffering or recurrent life lessons in the present. It is believed to be due to a law of cause and effect. Many chronic pain patients are somatizing guilt and self-punishment in their bodies from remembered or unconscious past experiences.
2 These are two meridians whose peak energy on the Chinese Clock is at opposite times of the 24 hour cycle. Heart – peaks at noon, Gall Bladder – peaks at midnight. Treating them together is a powerful balancing treatment.
3 This is the practice of using two microcurrent circuits of two electrode pads each. One pad from each circuit is placed on the patient, and the other pad on the back of one of the therapist’s hands, and then massage is applied to wetted skin to release myofascial knots, stimulate lymph drainage, or other bodywork methods.
4 For a detailed description of this microcurrent technique, see Microcurrent Electro-Acupuncture book, Chapter Seven.
....................................................By Darren Starwynn, O.M.D., Dipl. Ac.
Ph: (602) 494-5626
darren@neta.com
