Intramuscular stimulation (IMS)
2009
Vicky Joseph shares her experience.
Several years into my back problems, during a seemingly endless search for relief, I ‘discovered’ intramuscular stimulation. This therapy, known by the shorthand IMS, was developed over 20 years ago by Canadian pain specialist Professor Chan Gunn. It involves the insertion of acupuncture needles into the body where muscles have contracted, or where muscles meet nerves, and combines acupuncture with conventional Western medicine.
According to Professor Gunn, IMS has remarkable success in reducing chronic musculoskeletal pain and “is more effective than any other physical therapy".
However, in spite of this extravagant claim, it didn’t help me at all and was also extremely unpleasant, verging on torturous! But, in the desperation that will be familiar to many people with chronic back pain, something kept me returning for the torture in the hope that one day there would be a breakthrough. My physiotherapist was convinced his needling was making my back healthier, if not less painful.
My reluctance to abandon IMS paid off when a ruptured disc was finally diagnosed, followed by artificial disc replacement surgery, and I returned to the needling as an aid to my rehabilitation and recovery from years of chronic pain. My conclusion now is that along with some serious work on improving my posture, IMS has undoubtedly been, and continues to be, the most helpful treatment in maintaining my healthy(ish) back.
IMS is not acupuncture, although it uses acupuncture needles – it is a total system for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain conditions in the musculoskeletal system when there is no obvious sign of injury or inflammation. Specifically used for treating pain of neuropathic origin, IMS targets injured muscles that have contracted and become shortened from distress, releasing the muscle shortening and desensitising the irritated nerves.
Shortened muscles can produce mechanical pain by pulling on tendons and joints and muscle spasm is often an integral part of chronic pain. Manipulating muscles and ligaments is often not totally effective because while muscles are tight and contracted they can't heal properly. With IMS the needle can go deep into the body – sometimes several inches – to hit the right spot. As the needle penetrates, it 'irritates' the muscle, triggering the muscle to contract still further and grab the needle, which in turn stimulates nerve endings in the muscle to relax. The more the muscle is stimulated, the more it subsequently relaxes.
Because the needles are so sharp, they also cause tiny bleeds into the muscle which set off a mild inflammation process and the release of healing chemicals. This inflammation then can begin to heal the muscle – with a corresponding reduction in pain – as a result of increased blood flow to the area and improved muscle elasticity.
These days, three years on from my surgery, I have a monthly IMS session as a sort of maintenance programme with the occasional visit in between if joints are seizing up and giving me grief. And the needling is no longer painful – another sign of damaged tissue having been replaced by healthy tissue.
As Professor Gunn says, IMS not only bridges the gap between Eastern and Western medicine, it transcends the limitations of both. With apologies to Heineken – IMS really does reach the parts other treatments cannot reach.
For more information about IMS, visit the website of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain at http://www.istop.org where you can read a full explanation backed by an extensive range of research papers and also find a practitioner in the UK. There is also information at http://www.intramuscularstimulation.com