AVOIDING THE KNIFE" VOLUME 2
If you've ever had the feeling of burning knives being jabbed down your neck and the sensation of broken glass up and down your spine, you will try anything to get relief.If you have tried all of the traditional approaches to cervical pain treatment, including physical therapy, chiropractics, various home therapies (including cervical neck traction), and pharmaceuticals, and the pain persists, you may be ready for "non-traditional" methods of treating neck pain.
Here are a few options. Good luck!
Oriental Magic
Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM, includes a range of traditional practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout Asia, it is considered an alternative medicine in much of the Western world. TCM practices involve such treatments as Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, dietary therapy, and massage.TCM involves meticulous observation of the cosmos, nature, and the human body. The ancient techniques are thousands of years old. Yin-Yang is one of the major theories of this time-tested approach. Modern TCM was systematized in the 1950s under the People's Republic of China under the leadership of Chairman Mao Tse- tung.
Acupuncture on Steroids
Dry Needling or Trigger Point Dry Needling, is a treatment which involves inserting an extremely fine, single use, sterile needle (acupuncture needle) into a trigger point. This has been found in many research studies to be extremely effective in releasing the pain.This pain relief technique, unlike acupuncture, is based on Western medicine. This treatment tends to be more painful than acupuncture and local or general anesthetics are not part of the program.
Hot Cupping
"Cupping" is an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup (typically glass) is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced by heating the air. The skin and muscle layer are drawn into and held to the cup. The cup may be moved (the technique is called "gliding cupping") while the suction of skin is active. Incents are usually burning somewhere nearby.Stenosis Hypnosis
Also referred to as: "Alchemical Hypnotherapy". Some patients who received healing "suggestions" from trained therapists have proven the effectiveness of this approach under clinical conditions. This alternative modality includes finding one's "Inner Healer" to relieve cervical pain.Facet Rhizotomy
People who are candidates for rhizotomy have typically undergone 2-3 facet joint injections to verify the source and exact location of their pain. The Rhizotomy procedure uses a local anesthetic and x-ray guidance to insert a needle, with an electrode at the tip, alongside the small nerves to the facet joint.The electrode is then heated (called radiofrequency) to deaden these nerves that send pain signals to the brain. The goal of a facet rhizotomy is to "shut off" pain signals that the facet joints send to the brain. Many patients who have this procedure experience pain relief lasts for months, even years!
The success of these so-called non-traditional neck pain relief methods primarily depends on the patient's willingness to believe in them. At the end of the day, all treatments, traditional and non-traditional, rely on this kind of total commitment from the patient to be successful.
