What is IMS?

Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is a needling technique used to treat chronic pain which is found to be of neuropathic origin that has not responded to conventional physiotherapy techniques.

What is neuropathy?

• Defined as a nerve that is not working properly.
• This causes the nerve to become very sensitive and harmless signals are exaggerated and misinterpreted as painful ones.  
• It is the peripheral nerve that is functioning improperly. Peripheral nerves send information from the spinal cord to the rest of the body and improper functioning of the nerve can cause it to act irregular and can cause pain.
• Pain can be present in the muscle, tendon, or joint that the nerve supplies without any known injury. Pain can show up in any of these structures but the common cause of pain is muscle shortening.
• The most common cause of neuropathy is everyday wear and tear or overuse.
  Muscle Shortening
• Neuropathy increases tightness in a muscle and in turn causes muscles shortening 
• Muscle shortening can cause pain by: 
  • Pulling on tendons i.e. “tennis elbow” or “patellar tendinitis” 
  • Pressure over a bursa presenting a bursitis 
  • Alter alignment i.e. Knee pain from abnormal knee cap alignment 
  • Restrict range of motion 
  • Pressure on a nerve causing numbness or tingling sensations 
  • Irritation of muscles around the spine that increase disc compression 
• Physiologically, these conditions are all similar based on the diagnosis of neuropathy and the source of the problem is nerve related. 
• The source of the pain must be treated – the muscle shortening. IMS is used to release and desensitize painful trigger points in shortened muscles and treats the underlying problem that is causing the pain. 

When chronic musculoskeletal pain persists with no obvious injury or inflammation, neuropathy is suspected. Accompanying neuropathy is muscle shortening causing pain in muscle, tendons, their connective tissue attachments and joints. IMS has shown to be effective in the release of muscle shortening and relieving pain.

What to expect?
When the thin needle first enters the muscle it is nearly painless, but you will feel a cramp-like sensations as the muscle grasps the needle. The cramp can be quite painful depending on the severity of the muscle shortening but it will ease.

Frequency of treatments?
Usually once a week, but may be once every 2 weeks. This depends on how severe your pain is and how long you’ve been having pain. Regular physical therapy treatments can be sought in between IMS treatments for maintenance.

Risks
The risks for IMS are minimal and every precaution is taken. There is a chance of infection. However the needles used are sterile, individually wrapped needles that are discarded after each use, and alcohol is used to clean the area treated. A small bruise can develop where the needle is inserted if a small artery or vein is hit when entering the skin. It is possible to be sore for a few days after treatment, followed by an overall improvement of pain. Fortunately, all the risks are rare and absolute care is taken to avoid occurrences.

Difference between acupuncture and IMS?
IMS uses the same needling technique from acupuncture but they have different origins. Acupuncture is based on Chinese medicine where needles are inserted into acupuncture points along body system meridians to treat a variety of conditions. IMS is based on Western Medicine and treats at the source of the pain, that being into the muscle belly of the shortened muscle and is only used to treat nerve pain.

Success of treatment
Treatment can be quite successful if used appropriately. This is again depending on the severity and duration of the condition, general health and how quickly your body can heal.
 

For more information visit: www.istop.org