Midwest Microcurrent

1. Is this something new?

Alpha-Stim technology has been FDA cleared since 1988. These are prescription medical devices that have been widely researched on animals and used for human medical treatment since 1988. Electromedical Products International began introducing Alpha-Stim to the veterinary market in 2000. Since then many thousands of clinical treatments for everything from nerve pain associated with disc disease and paralysis, arthritis, degenerative myelopathy, and wounds to separation anxiety, stress, behavior problems, thunderstorm phobias, and lick granulomas have been successfully treated in mnay species of animals.

2. Could I hurt an animal by using Alpha-Stim?

Safety and no residual side effects are well documented by research. By following the recommended treatment applications and procedures you would not induce harm to an animal. As you practice your skill increases and you will find that therapeutic results will also improve.

3. How do I know it is working?

The protocols are designed to run subsensory so you will not see any detectable muscle contractions. Any stimulus that is administered to the body, which is outside of its normal frequency range, will soon become less effective because the body builds up barriers against it. It is a good idea to check the clips and lines weekly for function and delivery. Simply place them near your temples or across the eyebrows. Your eyes will pick up this current as light.

4. Is this a TENS device?

While Alpha-Stim and a TENS are both classified as microcurrent devices, the Alpha-Stim device delivers a proprietary wave form at 1,000 times less (microamperage) than a TENS device (milliamperage). Our unique biphasic rectangular superimposed waveform allows this often subsensory current to work within frequencies familiar to the body. Resistance does not develop as occurs with a TENS and therapy is self limiting. That means, as the body heals its normal feedback mechanism will begin to work and signal that more is not needed. Just as an optimal functioning body would do.

5. What do I do if something happens to the device?

While they are extremely durable, accidents can happen. You can call the companies technical support team at 1-800-FOR-PAIN and they will walk you through trouble-shooting. If that does not resolve the problem then you can send it in for immediate repairs. Consult the 5 year warranty guide for further directions or call our office at (888) 583-0944.

1. Has your horse ever been injured?

2. Does he spend more than 12 hours per day in a stall?

3. Are there any training issues that you cannot overcome?

4. Does your horse seem less flexible to one side?

5. Does he have pain?

6. Does he seem anxious or nervous at times?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then Alpha-Stim microcurrent technology may be the answer to your dreams. A simple 20 minute treatment could change how he sees the world and reacts to it.

Phantom pain is another interesting homunculus related phenomenon. When the
arm or leg or uterus was surgically removed, it was preceded by some type of
intense pain and unconsciousness. Removing the body part did not remove the
organ on the homunculus. Your brain still thinks you have that body part!
Ergo you feel the familiar presence and pain, at times, at its previous
location. Getting rid of that pain and treating pain at all four levels
can be accomplished with Alpha-Stim® microcurrent technology. Using
AS-Trodes at the site and cranial electrotherapy stimulation placed on your
ears not only will body pain subside and cease to exist but the phantoms
along with it.

Nerve fibers have what is called “plasticity.” That term comes from the
fact that you can take a plastic container and expose it to the heat of your
dishwasher after which it has transformed into a shape that no longer fits
together. This plasticity allows for more changing in nerve function,
transmission, and inevitably perception. Pain can change over time. Time
is not a healer in this situation.

Unrelenting chronic pain increases the area that body part(s) occupy on the cerebral cortex. You have more attention units giving credence to its importance so it becomes larger. The problem with that is that it has overrun other zones, other body structures, with the information of PAIN. Now you may start feeling pain in areas of the body that were never injured! Imagine that. Pain can also be augmented as it courses the spinal cord on way to the brain. There are different speed nerve fibers for different types of pain. Sometime with chronic pain the dull ache-type pain can jump tracks so it is then transmitted on a high intense nerve fiber making the pain now seem unbearable.

Pain is channeled through a part of the brain called the Limbic System. From there it is relayed to the Cerebral Cortex. On the cortex (the outer covering of the cerebrum) is body mapping. Yes, every body part you are born with is ‘mapped’ or located there in a size relative to its importance when you were born. Individually these are known as homunculus. When you injured that knee and it hurt, you identified that it was your knee because that body part is present at the brain level too. Say that knee injury was more than a ‘bump’ and that you actually tore a ligament. This can become a chronic condition, one that persists with some level of pain for more than a normal expected healing time, generally greater than 3 to 6 months. Having a surgery, anesthesia, and more post-op pain will send more messages to the originally little homunculus until it becomes a big knee homunculus. So what’s the big deal with a big knee homunculus? Find out on the next blog!

Pain is a complex phenomenon. You bump your knee and instantly all your focus goes straight to that location of your body. Between the hit and that thought, millions of cells responded in time so short that you can’t even calculate its speed. How did you actually get the message to know you were in pain? There are four body levels by which pain is transferred and potentially altered. Transduction occurs at the point of trauma, transmission happens between that point and the nerve signals getting to the spinal cord. At the spinal cord modulation or changing can occur and from there the perception of this pain is recorded at the brain. Next time I’ll tell about how this becomes more complex with time.