Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is a form of dry needling that uses an acupuncture needle to release tight bands of muscle. IMS was developed in the 1970’s by a physician name Chan Gunn who was frustrated with the lack of success in the more traditional approaches.
IMS treats shortened bands of muscles that can result in pain such as low back pain, tension headaches, IT band pain, and achilles tendonopathies. These shortened muscles are due to an altered supply by the spinal nerve that can occur with even small dysfunction of the spine.
IMS works in three ways
1. It creates an electrical potential of the muscle to allow the spinal nerve to function normally.
2. It releases tight bands of muscle through a reflex arc that causes an involuntary muscle grab followed by muscle relaxation.
3. It causes a small injury which results in increase blood flow to the area.
Clinically I have found that many people do benefit from IMS and it is an awesome tool to have in my tool box. There are some limitations to IMS and those who have a bleeding disorder, have active cancer in the area or are pregnant should not participate in this. I have seen some great success stories in using IMS as a physiotherapy treatment and hear repeatedly that people love the results that they received from it.
Sharina Zantingh Vernon, BC Physiotherapist
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