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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are limited by obvious realities. We need men who can dream
of things that never were and ask, why not. -- Spencer
W. Kimball
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be held hostage by the past." -- Neal Maxwell, Religious Leader
"There is always a better way."
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in spite of others. -- Christopher Columbus
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medicine faster than being the first to come up with the right answer.
- Henry Scammell
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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
Sinclair
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if you love it enough. - George Washington
Carver