This paper presents a
method to verify (for the first time) with "double-blind" placebo controlled
studies, the 2000-year-old Chinese definition of pain.
The Chinese believe that pain is caused by the "blockage of Chi."
- a concept that has never been adequately evaluated in Western medicine.
I submit that "Chi" is the endogenous electrical potential in living
tissue that can be measured and quantified. I further propose that
pain is caused by cut, broken, or suppressed electrical connections between
cells.
In support of the theory, and through my practice of auricular medicine,
I have measured the electrical resistance at the site of pain, in
more than 15,000 patients. Where there is pain, the electrical
resistance is always high, indicating a blockage or suppression of
the body's electrical signals.
To further evaluate the Chinese theory of pain, I developed a highly
conductive, silver membrane to be applied over the site of pain.
Once the membrane is applied, it acts (electrically) like a living
part of the body.
Below are five case studies (from more than 1200 treatments) in
which the membrane was applied to relieve pain. The membrane
(hereafter referred to by the trade name "Biotape") is chemically
inert. No medicine, drugs, or external electricity is used with
or applied by or through the tape.
Lois C.: Excruciating
endless pain since knee surgery in 1987. Biotape applied 12-12-96.
Patient reported eight months later that the relief of pain from
one application of the tape "is the greatest joy in my entire life."
After nine years of relentless pain, patient is still pain free eight
months after treatment.
Carolyn A.:
Fibromyalgia. Disabling neck and shoulder pain for six years. Patient
spent more than two hours every night hot packing her shoulder just to be
able to function as the breadwinner for her family. Biotape applied
4-22-97 providing 70% immediate relief. Reapplied tape 5-21-97.
Patient reported two months later that her neck and shoulder were completely
healed.
Marvin W.: Peripheral
Neuropathy. Balls of feet almost too tender to walk on for
five years. Biotape applied 7-7-97. "There was instant
relief and no pain until the tape came off."
Brandon J.:
Back pain and headaches from an auto accident, unable to work for 18 months.
Lumbar spinal surgery scheduled the following week. Pain reduced
85% with one application of Biotape and auricular therapy 2-25-98.
Pain was completely gone the next day. Surgery canceled.
Tricia M.: Low
back pain so severe she couldn't stand or walk. Used magnets
(that are being touted for pain) for a week. The magnets had
not helped (because magnets are not conductive). Biotape relieved
pain immediately and patient could stand and walk.
Obviously not all cases
are this successful but they are representative of what does occur more
often than could be attributed to a placebo. (More case studies
may be seen at end of page.)
The existence of minute endogenous electrical potentials in the body
is not in question. It is a measurable phenomenon. If electrical
nerve signals are blocked, cells will die or degenerate, causing muscle
wasting. All muscular movements are controlled by electricity.
The heart works electrically. If the heart's pacemaker (sinus
node) fails, an electrical pacemaker is implanted. We are "brain
dead" when there are no more electrical signals going across the brain.
I submit that this is also true of every other cell in the body.
Western medicine primarily addresses just the chemical and mechanical
functions of the body. Traditional Chinese medicine deals
with electrical processes. Acupuncture points cannot be seen,
but they can be found with modern electronic instruments called "point
finders." The points are areas of low electrical resistance that
are no bigger than the head of a pin. Incredibly, acupuncture points
are precisely where the Chinese have said they were for centuries!
A practice which shows the mechanical orientation of Western medicine
is to look for "the cause of pain" with imaging devices such as X-ray,
CT scans, MRI scans, etc. Imaging instruments cannot see electricity
(Chi) or pain and no imaging device can tell what is going through
a nerve, even if the nerve is pinched. Nerves can function perfectly
even if they are pinched. Nerve signals can also be impaired
and cause excruciating pain when they are not pinched.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, June 7,
1990, p.1627 on the use of TENS (transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation)
shows how little Western medicine knows about the electrical functions
of the body. The study concluded that, "for patients with chronic
low back pain, treatment with TENS is no more effective than treatment
with a placebo." This is like learning that a drug is ineffective,
and then concluding that "all drugs are no more effective than treatment
with a placebo." Western medicine dismisses Chinese medicine the
same way. Negative studies are cited and then everything is rejected.
There are potentially as many different kinds of electrical stimulation,
wave forms, frequencies, etc. as there are drugs. The only
thing the above study showed was that one particular TENS instrument,
used as they used it, was ineffective!
Western
surgical procedures cannot be proven with "double-blind" studies,
the same as acupuncture cannot be proven, because there is no placebo
for either one. Does this make coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty,
spinal fusions, hysterectomy, and all such surgery unscientific?
The concept of pain in this paper is important because nearly everything
that is done for pain in Western medicine only masks the pain by suppressing
the pain signal. This is treating the symptom, not the cause.
Masking the pain with medication is harmful for many reasons:
First, pain signals cannot be suppressed without suppressing other vital
functions. Second, aspirin may cause Reye's syndrome in children.
Aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs cause gastrointestinal
bleeding. Third, continued use of even over the counter medications such
as Tylenol, Advil (Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen) etc. may cause kidney failure
or liver damage. Adult doses given to children may cause severe liver
damage and even death. Fourth, narcotics and steroids have harmful
side effects in addition to being addictive. Fifth, pain medication
does nothing to repair the broken circuits which cause the pain.
The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain
as, "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with
actual or potential tissue damage." This tells us little about
the physiology of pain, and nothing about how to heal pain.
Western medicine can name many conditions believed to cause pain.
It is known in nanoseconds how fast pain signals travel to the brain.
Pain control chemicals that are produced by the body have been discovered
in the brain and spinal column. Blocking the pain signal with
drugs is a highly developed science. Still Western medicine does
not fully understand the physiology of pain. Pain is caused by
injured tissue, but what causes pain when there has been no injury?
How does the body heal pain? The extolled "Gate Theory of Pain"
revealed how pain signals are transmitted, not what pain is.
Traditional Chinese medicine has understood what pain is for more
than two thousand years. We now offer a simple method anyone
can use to relieve pain or verify the Chinese definition of pain.
"Double-blind" placebo controlled studies could easily be done using
the conductive tape and tape with an identical appearance that is not
conductive. Unlike research on acupuncture, neither the doctor or
the patient would know who is getting the real thing and who is getting
the placebo.
The reason we do not do our own double-blind study is because the
outcome would be questioned. Such a study should be completely
independent of the Pain Research Institute. We will provide materials
and training without charge to any independent researcher who has designed,
conducted, and published double-blind placebo controlled studies.
A positive outcome from such a study would be evidence for what is
almost inconceivable, that Western medicine has never learned the underlying
cause of pain!
Note: The following case studies were not included
in the above published article.
More Biotape Case Studies: Case studies given are best-case examples. Not
all patients respond equally well or permanently. No medical claims are made for
Biotape. The evidence presented and the case studies given
are only anecdotal, until established by "double-blind" placebo controlled
medical studies.
Dorothy S.: Arthritis in knees "swelled up as big as
cabbages." So painful it was almost impossible to walk.
Biotape applied 10-22-96 around both knees. Pain relieved almost
100% immediately. Swelling gone in two days and has not returned.
Tape reapplied for pain without swelling 10-29-96, 11-25-96, 12-10-96,
1- 7-97, 2-11-97. Received total relief of pain lasting about a
month each time.
Jane R.: Very painful "frozen shoulder." Biotape
applied 10-29-96 Received near 100% instant relief.
Royola A.:
Grandma with severe
low back pain from injury jumping on trampoline. Biotape applied
right side of lumbar spine 11-11-96. Ninety-five percent relief within
seconds. Tape reapplied 1-6-97. Pain still 75% better
six months later.
Hope P.:
Arm and shoulder ached like a
toothache all night. Possibly lymph edema after mastectomy. Biotape
applied over shoulder and down to hand 10-7-96. Pain 100% better the
next night with no reoccurrence in eleven months.
Terry G.:
Pain so severe in low back
that patient couldn't walk. Biotape applied 2-11-97. There
was almost immediate "miraculous relief." Biotape reapplied 5-2-97
when the pain started to return. Patient reported four months
later that the pain never come back.
Elizabeth
S.: Back pain, "unending
for years." Biotape applied 1-15-97. Patient reported six months
later that "It helped a lot. The Pain is just starting to come
back but not near as bad as before."
Mary E.:
Sciatic pain. Biotape
applied 6-18-97. Patient bent over immediately after and said
"That's the first time I have been able to bend over without pain in
10 years!" Pain a month later still only about 10% of what it was
before treatment.
Lisa R.:
Low back pain with pregnancy.
Biotape applied down both sides of lumbar spine resulting in 95% relief.
Joleen S.:
Thoracic pain so severe that
she couldn't sleep lying down for six months. Biotape applied
4-28-97. Patient reported three months later that "It was extremely
successful. Doesn't hurt at all now."
Fredrick C.: Peripheral neuropathy. Severe burning
in the soles of feet. Significant relief came with application of Biotape
that stayed on for only three or four days. Still 50% better
a month later with no more tape. Biotape applied to soles of feet 7-16-
97. Burning "gone" immediately.
Mary Jo S.:
Post polio syndrome.
Severely disabled. Biotape applied over swollen knee 1-3-97.
Patient reported 2-13-97, "It helped tremendously. I was able
to walk through the grocery store for the first time in years and was
not crippled after doing it!"
Summer D.: Unending pain from cheer leading accident
two years before. Biotape applied on left side of lumbar spine
9-18-96 for Pain gone until 10-23-96. Reapplied tape 10-24-
96. Pain has still not returned 7-13-97.
Ben C.:
Osgood-Schlatter's Disease.
Biotape applied 6-18-97 around knee. "Pain gone" immediately.
Has not returned in more than a year.
Anne C.:
Heel and Achilles tendon
pain for six months. Biotape applied 4-22-97. Pain still
completely gone 7-11-97.
Glen A.:
"Drop foot." Biotape
applied down leg 11-4-96. Definitely improved eight months
later. Can now move toes.
Colleen M.:
Rheumatoid arthritis pain
in hands. Three strips Biotape applied down arm to hand 10-8-96.
Received 90% relief within minutes.
Paul S.:
Low back pain so severe patient
couldn't stand up. Applied Biotape. Relief was immediate.
Pain completely gone for more than a year.
Helen S.: Ninety-year-old with pain that came three
years after knee joint replacement surgery, so severe that she couldn't
walk. Biotape applied to knee and within 15 minutes she was
walking and 90-100% of the pain was gone. "Completely better"
a month after the tape came off.
E-mail: stoddard@healpain.net
Website: http://www.healpain.net
To
purchase Biotape go to: www.biotape.net
on the Internet
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Institute
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of things that never were and ask, why not. -- Spencer
W. Kimball
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medicine faster than being the first to come up with the right answer.
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its saviors. - Darrell Stoddard
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sight. - Darrell
Stoddard
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his salary depends upon him not understanding it. - Upton
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if you love it enough. - George Washington
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