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Neural therapy is based on the belief that energy flows freely through the body of a healthy person. Proponents claim that injury, disease, malnutrition, stress and even scar tissue disrupt this flow creating energy imbalances called interference fields. Neural therapy purports to manage chronic disease and disorders by considering four components: the structural component, the electro-magnetic component, the biochemical component and the psychological component. Treatments include anesthetic injections, including those to areas distant from the site of the pain, medication and nutritional support, electromagnetic stimulation and psychological intervention.
Neural therapy is based on electrical disturbance and restricted lymph system theories. It is believed that a distortion in the connective tissue of the body, interference in structure, lymph flow or electrical conduction can cause illness. The goal of neural therapy is to correct the interference and heal the illness or symptoms. However, even those who practice neural therapy acknowledge that the process is not well understood. There is insufficient published literature that demonstrates the clinical utility and safety of this treatment modality (Hui, 2012; Lorentzen, 2012).
Neural therapy is promoted mainly to relieve chronic pain. It is also thought to be helpful for individuals with allergies, hay fever, headaches, arthritis, asthma, hormone imbalances, sports or muscle injuries, gallbladder, heart, liver disease, dizziness, depression, menstrual cramps, skin and circulation problems. Neural therapy originated in Germany in the late 1800s, with the idea that the nervous system influences all bodily functions. Later, in the 1940s, practioners believed that injecting local anesthetics could affect distant, unrelated parts of the body. This theory was based on a clinical anecdote describing the relief of shoulder pain in an individual following the injection of an anesthetic drug into an existing scar on the leg. From this experience arose the notion of interference fields and the development of neural therapy.
Neural therapy is not to be confused with the nerve blocks, local anesthesia injections or acupuncture. Nerve blocks involve injections of medication to relieve pain caused by stimulation of a peripheral nerve. Local anesthesia is the injection of an anesthetic agent at a local site to relieve localized pain. Acupuncture stimulates certain points on the body associated with energy channels or meridians with the insertion and manipulation of fine needles. Proponents of neural therapy propose that local injections of anesthetic agents into areas of the body, (for example, scars) that are unrelated to the site of pain may interfere with the electrical activity of the nervous system.
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