Neural Therapy

Neural therapy works with the body's autonomic (independent) nervous system to restore energy balance on the cellular level. Injections of anesthetics are delivered to cells short-circuited by disease or injury along the pathways of the autonomic nervous system. The chemicals from the anesthetics work to remove short circuits - known as interference fields - in the body's electrical network

This reportedly frees the body's flow of energy and normalizes cellular function, making it an effective treatment for a variety of health conditions, most notably chronic pain. 

The therapy was developed in the1920s and has been widely used in its homeland of Germany and in South America, to treat chronic pain. Its fundamental theory - the "ground system theory" - is widely accepted in Europe but only beginning to be accepted in the United States.

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Origin of Neural Therapy

The use of Novocain for neural therapy treatment evolved from the use of cocaine as a local anesthetic in the 1880s. In the search for a local anesthetic solution that does not have the addictive and euphoric side effects of cocaine, Einhorn discovered Novocain (procaine) in 1905. The following year, Spiess discovered that wounds and inflammatory processes subside with fewer complication and faster after injection with Novocain. In 1925, the famous French surgeon, Leriche, performed the first stellate ganglion block for the treatment of chronic intractable arm pain. This procedure has recently become the "gold standard" for the treatment of shoulder-arm pain. 

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Ferdinand and Walter Huneke, two doctors who were brothers, developed neural therapy in Germany in the 1920s. In 1925, they published a paper showing how the injection of a local anesthetic affected other places in the body. Several years later, Ferdinand found to his amazement that injecting a woman in her leg for pain caused her chronic shoulder pain to immediately disappear. This instant healing, which he dubbed "lightning reaction," gave rise to the concept of ster-felder, or fields of interference. 

Neural therapy today is the most commonly used treatment for relieving chronic pain in Germany and South America. The "ground system theory," which is the foundation of neural therapy, is widely accepted in Europe. Dietrich Klingardt, M.C.,Ph.D., of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is its leading practitioner and teacher in the United States. Through his American Academy of Neural Therapy, he has trained approximately two hundred practitioners, and still more neural therapists who trained outside the United States now practice there. It is only beginning to be appreciated and used in the United States. With chronic pain the single largest cause of disability in the United states, insurance companies and employers are examining neural therapy as an inexpensive way to relieve it an reduce health-care costs. 

Theory and Practice

The foundation of neural therapy is the "ground system theory", which states that the connective tissues between cells control health, and that disease results from disturbances in these tissues. Every living thing is charged with electricity and every living cell has its own specific frequency range. 

As long as energy flow throughout the body remains within its normal frequency range, the tissues will remain healthy. Disturbance of the electrical conductivity of the autonomic nerves and cells disrupts the flow of biological energy and causes most chronic illnesses. The disruption creates what is known as an interference field in the ground system of the body. 

The ground system lies between the cell membranes, arteries, veins, lymph vessels and nerve endings, and is composed of connective tissue. When normal electrical impulses travel unimpeded, the various systems of the body are closely linked by it, fostering good health. If this delicate balance is thrown off, disruptions in the normal function of cells occur, and eventually chronic disorders develop.

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The site of the disruption is referred to as an interference field. The disturbance can occur at a specific trauma site or elsewhere in the body. Scars are a good example of trauma that can create an interference field. A neural therapist's task is to locate the source of the abnormal activity and eliminate the disturbance. 

Restoring the cell's normal electrical activity allows it to begin eliminating toxic wastes that have built up as a result of this disturbance, and thus operate normally again. Often interference fields lie dormant until activated by further trauma or by general illness such as emotional stress, food sensitivity or malnutrition. Weight gain can activate interference fields because excess weight can stretch scar tissue. 

To eliminate the interference field, the neural therapist begins with a complete medical history to uncover underlying causes including past illness, surgery, or trauma. There are empirical relationships between interference fields and illness. A complete medical history helps determine these relationships. Indicators of an underlying interference field include failure to respond to other therapies, a condition that worsens after other therapies, all symptoms are located on only one side of the body, or one illness after another continually develops.

Anesthetics injected into the nerve side of the autonomic nervous system, acupuncture points, scars, glands, and other tissues correct these blockages and restore the energy flow. The most commonly used anesthetics are procaine and lidocaine, which are easily broken down and metabolized by the body. Sometimes only a single dosage is needed to relieve the pain and restore health. Most ailments, however, require a series of injections. 

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Use In Dentistry

In the 1950s, Dr. Reinhold Voll discovered that each tooth in the mouth relates to a specific acupuncture meridian. He noticed that if the organ related to that meridian is not functioning normally, the tooth related to the same meridian may be symptomatic (e.g., painful or decaying).

When the meridian is under stress, the acupuncture points in the mouth are sensitive to local pressure. This reaction can be used for diagnosis and treatment. Neural therapy can be applied through the mouth to treat other parts of the body.

If neural therapy is used to inject this pain in the other part of the body may subside. Local oral problems respond well when the corresponding oral acupuncture point is treated with neural therapy.

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