Pain can be acute or chronic. Acute pain is the kind of pain that occurs suddenly, typically has an identifiable cause and lasts for a limited time. Chronic pain is persistent. It can be continual or recurrent and the symptoms last for more than 3 to 6 months, or much longer than anticipated after an injury.

According to the American Pain Foundation, more than 25 percent of American adults have had pain lasting more than 24 hours. Roughly 42 percent of those with pain say it has lasted longer than a year. Pain is the second leading cause of lost work from illness. The annual cost of chronic pain in the U.S. is about $100 billion.

The Role of Reflexes in Pain

According to San Diego Physical Therapist John Iams, M.A., P.T., many cases of persistent pain can be attributed to problems with inborn, or primal, reflexes. Two of the basic primal reflexes are the startle reflex and the withdrawal reflex. The startle reflex is triggered by a sudden, unexpected sensory stimulus, like a loss of balance, or an animal darting out in front of your car. The withdrawal reflex is triggered by a sense of potential injury, such as the hand touching a hot stove. With both types of reflexes, the muscles tense and the body automatically moves itself from the danger. Once the response occurs, the muscles normally relax.

Iams says in some cases, the primal reflexes remain in an overexcited state, causing the muscles to stay tight. Those tight muscles can be the cause of musculoskeletal pain. Some patients get massages to relax the tight muscles. But, often the relief is only temporary. Iams explains that massage may not get to the root of the problem, i.e., the overexcited reflexes. Thus, the muscles continue to be pulled and the pain returns.

Iams has developed Primal Reflex Release Technique™, or PRRT™, a procedure that can be used to detect and treat primal reflex-related pain. To search for the cause of the pain, he uses his fingers to gently palpate one side of the body, then the other, feeling for areas of hypersensitivity, called TriggeRegions™. Iams says sometimes the area of pain is far removed from the TriggeRegion.

Once the problem area is identified, the therapist performs light taps, strokes, karate chops or flicking against the skin. These motions release the tension, and, immediately, or within seconds, relieves the pain. Iams says the technique doesn’t work for everyone. But unlike other therapies that require multiple sessions to find out if they will help, if the patient doesn’t show any response after the first session, the treatment is not likely to work.

Iams says he has had particular success with PRRT in patients with fibromyalgia. It also works well for some kinds of sports injuries, and may provide some relief for pain associated with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Iams continues to study, refine and teach his technique to physical therapists across the country. For more information, go to http://www.theprrt.com. AUDIENCE INQUIRY

For information on the Primal Reflex Release Technique™, go to http://www.theprrt.com

For general information on pain control:
American Chronic Pain Association, http://www.theacpa.org
American Pain Foundation, http://www.painfoundation.org