Judith Kahn - M.D. P.C

545 West 236th Street Suite C , Riverdale- 10463
New York ,

United States

+1-7188848115 Fax : 7188841487 http://home.mindspring.com

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Judith Kahn - M.D. P.C - Riverdale

Judith Kahn - M.D. P.C I am a medical doctor, with specialty training in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. My practice is unique in that I integrate a variety of disciplines to create a more effective approach to health which resolves medical problems at the source rather than managing symptoms. My specialty training provided me with a foundation in assessing the body from a neurological and musculo-skeletal perspective, with an emphasis on evaluating the whole person and their ability to function in their daily activities.

However, I found that the formal medical training I received was insufficient to meet the needs of many of my patients, and therefore continued to study extensively with osteopathic physicians and manual therapists, who were leaders in their field both nationally and internationally. This expanded my ability to assess the body from a mechanical basis, and to evaluate all of the systems of the body in order to identify the part of the body that was the most restricted. In osteopathy and manual therapy, treatment is directed at this most restricted area.

The understanding that this may be the cause of the person's complaints even if it is distant from the site of symptoms. Many of the systems of the body are assessed and treated individually, including: muscles, soft tissues, fascia (the thin layer covering muscles and organs), tissues around internal organs, joints, skeleton, neurologic, craniosacral (movement of the bones of the head and sacrum), circulatory, emotional, energy, cognitive (thought patterns) and spiritual (beliefs). However, the amount of treatment time needed was extensive, and the results were not always proportional to the time invested. I therefore continued to search for an approach that would allow quicker access to the source of my patient's complaints, and provide more complete correction of the problem.

The focus of the practice today is to address health and wellness from a holistic standpoint, rather than just trying to eliminate the symptoms which are bothering you. At times, the presenting complaint may linger, as the rest of the body heals, sometimes acting as a signal to keep you aware of your body's healing process. At other times, the presenting complaint may resolve very quickly.

My Practice Today: All patients who present to my practice undergo a complete medical evaluation, with an emphasis on the neuro-musculo-skeletal systems. This confirms or determines their diagnosis, and is used to establish a treatment plan and goals. Goals of treatment generally include resolution or improvement in the presenting complaints, and improvement/normalization of neuro-musculo-skeletal and postural integrity.

Conditions That Have Been Treated In My Practice (includes, but not limited to):* Musculoskeletal Conditions, such as low back pain, neck pain, whiplash, disc disorders (commonly known as "slipped disc," herniated disc, sciatica, radiculopathy, nerve root compression, or pinched nerve), spinal stenosis, arthritis, joint pains, fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain Syndrome: (commonly referred to as muscle spasms), sprains, muscle strains/pulled muscles, sports injuries, headaches, chronic pain disorders, TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction), scoliosis.

Neurological Conditions such as strokes, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease.Other medical conditions, in conjunction with standard medical therapy, such as respiratory and circulatory conditions, chronic fatigue.If you would like to discuss your medical condition with me feel free to call me at my office or send me email by logging into this site.

BACKGROUND MEDICAL INFORMATION,Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS): "Myo" is latin for muscle. "Fascia" is connective tissue which covers muscles, nerves, and internal organs. It is interconnected throughout the body, and is connected to the membranes surrounding the brain and spine. Trigger points are hyperirritable sites within muscles and fascia, often perceived as tender knots. Myofascial pain may occur with sudden overload of a muscle or with chronic repeated overuse. Sudden stretch of a muscle which has been hypershortened for a prolonged period of time, can cause reflex contraction of the muscle, perceived as "muscle spasm." Shortening of the muscle can restrict motion in the joints to which it is attached.

Active trigger points are painful on compression, often referring pain in characteristic patterns. The pain is dull and aching, often perceived as deep. There are often associated phenomena such as sweating, imbalance, dizziness, tinnitus, and distorted perception of the weight of objects lifted in the hand.

Latent trigger points are not painful, but may cause stiffness, weakness, and decreased joint range of motion. They can become active years after the original injury, with minor injuries such as overstretch, chilling, prolonged shortening of the muscle, viral illness or emotional stress. The amount of stress needed to activate a trigger point depends on the degree of conditioning of the muscle. Even without reactivation, the latent trigger points themselves may be responsible for the progressive restriction of mobility seen in the elderly.

Pain due to pressure on trigger points during sleep can disrupt sleep. Research suggests that sleep disturbance may contribute to the pain and stiffness associated with myofascial pain. Correction of the sleep disturbance may enhance the response to treatment with manual techniques.

Emotional factors can also exacerbate myofascial pain. Stress may cause increased muscle tension, causing overload to already symptomatic muscles. Chronic pain is a well known cause of depression. Conversely, depression may also lower the pain threshold, intensify pain, and impair response to specific myofascial treatments.

Treatments: Myofascial release techniques are designed to achieve muscle relaxation and elongation, eliminating the trigger point. Stretching exercises are techniques in which the muscle is taken to the restrictive barrier, and force is applied in order to break through this barrier. This process is often inhibited by neurologic reflexes within the neuromuscular system, designed to prevent overstretch of a muscle.

Alternative techniques include shortening the muscle (often only very subtly), taking it away from the restrictive barrier. This bypasses the inhibitory neurological reflexes, allowing the muscle to relax and elongate. Treatments can be more effective when all of the systems of the body are considered, including: muscles, soft tissues, fascia (the thin layer covering muscles and organs), tissues around internal organs, joints, skeleton, neurologic, craniosacral (movement of the bones of the head and sacrum), circulatory, emotional, energy, cognitive (thought patterns) and spiritual (beliefs).

Muscle conditioning can prevent activation of trigger points. Therefore, engagement in low-impact aerobic exercises on a regular basis is often helpful. Strengthening exercises can also be beneficial. However, trigger points often cause reflex weakness of local muscles, which cannot be overcome by exercises. Resolution of the abnormal reflex may restore normal muscle strength without the need for specific strengthening exercises.

Relaxation techniques may reduce the effects of stress or anxiety on myofascial pain. Progressive relaxation techniques teach you how to relax each of the muscle groups throughout the body. You are also taught how to identify areas of muscle tension, and to perceive when this tension increases during the day. Biofeedback enhances the perception of muscle tension and relaxation through the use of a machine which electronically reads the amount of muscle tension present in a given muscle.

Traditional treatments often include use of Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) for pain relief. Often there is a vicious cycle where the initial muscle injury produces pain, resulting in muscle spasm, which causes further pain. Relieving the pain with medications may interrupt this cycle. Muscle relaxants, particularly Flexeril, and anti-depressant medications (such as Elavil) may actually normalize the sleeping pattern. Since sleep disturbance may be a factor in myofascial pain, the restoration of normal sleep may decrease the symptoms and enhance response to other treatments.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated Arthritis means inflammation of a joint. Arthritic diseases affecting the entire body systemically include rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. The most common form of arthritis, however, is degenerative arthritis. This is not a "systemic" disease, but rather the result of "wear and tear" on commonly used joints in the body. If there is inflammation in the joints, this will respond to treatment with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications (such as Ibuprofen, Naprosyn, Clinoril, Voltaren, Celebrex, Vioxx to name just a few).

Often the pain is not due to true inflammation within the joint, but rather to surrounding myofascial pain or to joint restriction. In such a situation, the pain will not resolve completely with medications alone, but may also require treatment with manual therapy techniques. The manual therapy techniques allow the surrounding muscles to relax, and joint mobility to normalize. This often results in decreased pain and increased function, even when the x-ray continues to show "arthritic" changes. Studies have also shown that there is often poor correlation between the degree or presence of arthritic changes on x-rays and a person's symptoms. Most treatment techniques available today are management techniques which try to minimize disease progression, relieve symptoms, and maximize function.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Posture:,The human body is very efficient, and does not expend energy unnecessarily. Therefore it will maintain alignment of the spine in the position which requires the least amount of ongoing muscle activity. If there are joint or soft tissue restrictions with in the spinal column, this alignment may not appear ideal. Often the person will be told to stand up straight. However, since it requires active muscle contraction to maintain this straight posture, the person will not be able to sustain it without active concentration. Correction of the joint and soft tissue restrictions may enhance posture, even at an advanced age.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.,Fibromyalgia:Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread pain and aching for over three months, with no apparent cause. There is consistent localized tenderness in multiple typical locations. There is associated fatigue, morning stiffness, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and a subjective sense of swelling or numbness. Symptoms improve with physical activity, and worsen with weather, anxiety, stress and poor sleep.

If this description sounds similar to myofascial pain, then it may not surprise you to know that there is controversy within the medical profession as to whether these are two separate conditions, or just two extremes on a single continuum. Generally, the treatment provided is similar for the two conditions. Responses in fibromyalgia may not be as rapid due to the increased duration of symptoms prior to the initiation of treatment, and to its more diffuse involvement.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Chronic Pain Syndrome:,Chronic Pain Syndrome is defined as pain lasting more than six months, often without a easily explained source of pain. Because joint restrictions and myofascial trigger points do not appear on x-rays, MRIs or CT scans, they are often overlooked. These conditions can be corrected even years after their onset. However, as time progresses, emotional factors, such as depression or stress, may complicate the situation. Techniques such as manual therapy techniques, biofeedback, progressive relaxation and supportive psychological counseling have been used to minimize symptoms.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Whiplash:Whiplash is an injury which occurs as a result of acceleration/deceleration of the body. Physical findings will include myofascial pain in the neck and back, often with limited flexibility in these regions as well.Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ):TMJ is defined as pain in the joint between the jaw bone and the skull. Other symptoms include clicking, popping, snapping and occasionally, locking, of the jaw joint.

Although there may be a primary problem within the jaw itself, there is often soft tissue tightness in the neck and upper chest. The soft tissue tightness affects flexibility of the neck and jaw, and is often the cause of, or at least a significant contributing factor to the jaw problem. Symptoms will often improve with treatment of the soft tissue (myofascial) abnormalities without having to use an intra-oral appliance or undergo surgery.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Cervical Radiculopathy:This is commonly known as "a pinched nerve" in the neck. Nerves extend from the neck into the arm in order to control the arm muscles. Other nerves begin in the arm and return to the spine, transmitting information about touch, pain and other sensory information. Complaints with cervical radiculopathy include weakness, numbness or tingling in one or both arms.

These complaints can also occur with compression of the nerves anywhere along their path, which runs under the collar bone, through the "armpit" and down the arm between muscles. Soft tissue tightness, muscle spasm, or somatic dysfunction (restricted movement in a neck bone or the collar bone) are correctable causes of nerve compression. In addition, myofascial pain can mimic nerve compression in the neck, and responds well to treatments designed to relieve the muscle spasm.

Back to Conditions That Have Been Treated.Lumbosacral Radiculopathy or "Sciatica":A major nerve which extend from the back into the legs is called the sciatic nerve. This can be compressed in the back, buttocks or legs. Discs are located between the spine bones (vertebrae) and act as shock absorbers for the spine. If the disc is disrupted, torn or displaced, it can release chemicals which irritate the nerve, or may actually compress the nerve fibers themselves as they pass through the spinal canal.

Typical complaints include back pain radiating into the leg, often with numbness and tingling. However, muscle spasm (particularly in the buttock, where it entraps the nerve) or vertebral somatic dysfunction (stiffness in the spine bones) can mimic nerve compression in the back. Traditional exercises included sit-ups, lying on the back with the knees bent, and raising the knees to the chest. However, it has been shown that these exercises all increase pressure on the disc and increase the risk of reinjury.

Studies demonstrate that arching the back (passively) and maintaining a proper curve in the lower back help reduce pressure on the nerves (McKenzie(c) Exercises). There are also ways to strengthen the back muscles without doing sit-ups that help prevent recurrent disc injuries (Dynamic Stabilization Exercises). Traditional thinking also assumed that disc injuries were only present if the symptoms extended into the leg. It has since been shown that many patients complaining only of low back pain have minor disc injuries. Initiation of treatment at this point can prevent recurrent and more severe injuries.

Additional Information

Are you reading this article because you are in pain,Do you have pain in your back, neck, shoulder, hip, knee, or feet; an injury from an accident or sports injury that never fully healed; sciatica, or a pinched nerve,Have you been diagnosed with rheumatism, arthritis, or fibromyalgia

Have you been told that these are chronic conditions, will never improve, and will only worsen with the passage of time? Have you been told that you are just getting old and that you have to live with it? Have you tried physical therapy, chiropractic treatments, and/or massage therapy with only transient relief at best? Have you been told that the only option left for you is surgery

I would like to suggest to you that your pain may be improved or resolved with my integrative approach, which includes osteopathically based treatments including soft tissue myofascial release techniques, muscle energy therapy for joint mobilization, and craniosacral therapy. My practice specializes in helping patients who have not responded to other treatments, but are not willing to give up.

What do your diagnoses mean,Arthritis: What is arthritis? Arthritis means joint inflammation. The typical variety is osteoarthritis, which is generally due to "wear and tear" on joints, very commonly in the knees, hips, and spine. This can often be related to weight and/or physical overuse of joints. Osteoarthritis involves a wearing down of the cartilage, with narrowing of the space between bones.

There can also be extra bone deposits within joints, as a result of stress put on the joint. This narrows joint further, limiting motion and causing pain with motion due to restricted motion and bone rubbing on bone. However, research shows that there is often no correlation between arthritic changes seen on x-rays and degree of pain that the person experiences. Most people over the age of 25 show arthritic changes on x-ray, but do not necessarily have pain. When do the arthritic changes seen on x-ray cause pain? When there's marked destruction of the joint and severe rubbing of bone on bone.

What else could be causing the pain? How about sciatica or a pinched nerve? Is this what's causing your pain? Even if the MRI shows damage to one of your discs, such as a bulge or herniation (known in layman's terms as a "slipped disc", is it affecting your sciatic nerve? When MRIs are done for unrelated reasons in people with no back pain 30% of people in their 30s have been found to have disc abnormalities on MRI, and in their 60s, over 50% of people have them. These are disc abnormalities in a large number of people who have no pain in their back or legs. In other words, many of us can be walking around with these abnormalities and not have pain. So when you do have pain, the fact that there are abnormalities in your discs on MRI doesn't necessarily mean that the discs are the cause of your pain.

So what else could be causing your pain? I have found that most people have muscle spasm and joint restrictions. Most of us are aware of tension and tightness in our muscles. There may be areas of tenderness as well. Muscle spasm can limit the movements of the joints to which they are attached. You might also have sudden restriction of joint mobility from an accident or a "bad move"; which can then cause the muscles in the immediate are to have spasm as well.

Muscle spasm and joint restrictions can make you feel stiff and achy. Is this arthritis? It could be, but often the degree of discomfort does not correlate with the arthritic changes on x-ray. And, if you relieve the spasm and joint restriction, the person can be pain-free, yet the x-ray is unchanged. Sometimes, muscle spasm and joint restrictions can mimic a "pinched nerve" such as sciatica, and when the restriction is relieved, the "nerve" pain resolves immediately, even when the MRI still shows disc damage.

So, what can you do.The first step is to get a full musculoskeletal examination to determine how your body and its joints are moving, and how much muscle spasm there is, and where it is. You may even choose to have x-rays, MRIs or electrodiagnostic studies to establish a baseline of objective anatomic images. Then you are ready to begin treatment.

Let me tell you my story,I graduated from Einstein Medical School, and specialized in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Specialists in this field are called Physiatrists. We are trained to look at the joints and muscles of the body, and help patients regain function.
Physiatrists in Rehabiliation centers, such as Rusk, Kessler Institute, Burke, Helen Hayes will commonly treat patients with spinal cord injuries, strokes, amputations, head injuries, joint replacements.

In private practice, physiatrists often specialize in pain management of musculoskeletal conditions such as ones we&'ve already mentioned.We can offer physical therapy, injections, medications, referrals for surgery. Many practitioners offer specialized techniques such as nerve blocks, botulinum injections.After finishing my training I began to explore what options I could offer my patients.

How many of you have tried physical therapy, with no results,I've found that there is a marked difference in quality of therapy offered.Sometimes what is done is provide heat and electrical stimulation, which relax the muscles and prepare them for treatment, but then no actual hands-on treatment is provided. When hands-on treatment is given, there is a difference in the quality of techniques used. I found that many of the better physical therapists were using techniques developed by osteopathic physicians.

Osteopathic physicians are fully medically trained doctors, who also look at the connection between the musculoskeletal system and the rest of the body.What does this mean? One example is asthma. When osteopathic physicians treat asthmatic patients, they evaluate how the lungs are working, and provide medication to help with the breathing. But they also look at the rib and spine mobility, and relieve restrictions to help the patient breath more easily.

Osteopathy believes that the body has the means of healing itself. What this means is that you don't have to just live with your symptoms for the rest of your life. This means that you can start a process, which leads to correction of the cause of your symptom - that there is a means of recovery and healing available to the body. The body is designed to function optimally in a certain fashion, and the closer we come to the original specifications, the better we feel.

I was getting frustrated telling patients that there was nothing else I could offer them, and that they had to just live with their pain. I began to study with highly qualified manual therapists and with osteopathic physicians and found that these practitioners were getting quicker and more permanent results than standard physical therapy. Over a ten year period, I took at least one course a month studying manual therapy techniques, and spent an entire year studying the osteopathic curriculum with osteopathic students at the NY College of Osteopathy, becoming certified in their techniques.

What do these techniques do? One of the major principles is to look at the whole body. You may be familiar with the term Holistic Medicine. What does this mean? It means looking at the whole person. Well, if you take the musculoskeletal system – this means looking at the entire body, and not just the part that hurts. The term that I have been trained to use is "finding the area of greatest restriction".

I already mentioned asthma as an example. One patient who I've treated with this approach has not needed any of her asthma medication for 10 years. Another patient was in a nursing home. He had undergone major heart and chest surgery two years previously, and now had been hospitalized after he stopped breathing due to asthma. I saw him for back pain, but found that his ribs were very tight. After treating him once, and loosening up his rib and spine, his back pain resolved over the next few days, and his breathing improved as well. Notice, he didn't come to me for his breathing problem.

He was being seen in physical therapy for his back, and had been getting several weeks of therapy for the back with no relief. I took a complete medical history, so I knew about his breathing problem. But the main thing that I did was examine him, and determine where he was tightest - this turned out to be his ribs - so that's where I treated him first. Then, I reassessed him. The next place turned out to be his neck - well he never even mentioned neck pain. It didn't matter.

That was where the tightness was, that was affecting the rest of his body. Then, I reevaluated his body again, and addressed the low back last. The key is that I did not go to where he said he hurt, or where he was having his medical problem. I was examining and reexamining his entire body, to find each area of tightness in the correct order to treat it. By the way, this first treatment took about 15 minutes all together.

Another example is someone who came to me with heel pain. All I've done is examine her, and have not started any treatment. However, this person has significant tightness in her neck, and moderate tightness in her upper back. I will suggest to you that loosening up the restrictions in these areas will address why she has tension in her heel, that resulted in heel spurs, which is extra bone deposited in the heel due to mechanical stress. She has had extensive treatment to her heels without relief, but even if there were some relief, this would not correct the underlying cause of the problem.

The heel pain indicates that there is a problem in the body that causes it to put stress on the heel. For full correction, one has to address the whole body, and correct what is putting the stress on the heel.

As we go through life, we develop restrictions. It's like a car that goes over bumps, and goes out of alignment. As you keep driving, more things go out of alignment as well. It's detective work to determine what restriction is causing pain, or problem. Sometimes there are multiple layers to be corrected before the pain is relieved.

So for many years, this is what I did, and many patients got better. However, my best teachers are the patients who do not respond to all the techniques that I have to offer. So, I kept on taking more courses.I now learned about the Energy field around the body, and how this influences the musculoskeletal system, specifically, and the body in general.

Harold Saxton Burr was a scientist at Yale University starting in the 1930s. He began to measure electrical changes in the body. He measured differences in voltage between various points on the body, starting with his laboratory staff, and found that each one had a unique readout. He found specific changes that correlated with ovulation and with tumors, and used these medically.

He also studied salamanders and found a field that essentially looked like the outline of an adult salamander. He found that if he cut off one of their legs, the field still existed, and the leg grew back. In frogs, he found that if he cut off the leg, it did not grow back. However if he added an externally generated electric field around the frog's leg, it would regenerate.

He was curious when this field started, and found that an unfertilized salamander egg had the field of an adult, fully grown salamander around it. Based on measurements of the energy field, he was able to predict what part of the egg would become the neural tissue, and injected a dye in that region. After fertilization, this dye appeared only in the adult salamander's nervous tissue. This shows a correlation between parts of the energy field, and physical parts of the body.

Dr. Burr suggested that there is an energy field around the body, which he called the Life Force, which is the blueprint for our body. It is what tells each of our cells what to do. Remember, all of our cells have the same DNA, the same genetic material inside. So what tells one cell to become a heart cell, another, a liver cell, and another, a brain cell? Based on the research by Dr. Burr, I would suggest to you that the energy field around our body plays an important role in this process. Could our energy fields act as templates, directing the body in its development? Our bodies are constantly remodeling and rebuilding.

The cells in our digestive system are replaced every 3 days. Neural tissue can take up to 7 years to repair itself. What is the blueprint for this process? The same energy field that directs the embryo to become an adult human may also direct the repair and rebuilding process. What if this blueprint becomes distorted? Will we rebuild based on incorrect information? What if the DNA in our cells stops receiving input from this blueprint? If the lining of the intestine replaces itself every 3 days, then why will someone have Crohn's disease, or other intestinal inflammation, for 20 years? If you lose the blueprint, or the connection to the blueprint, it's like you're living in a house that you can't fix. You patch things up to the best of your ability, but you're not able to do any permanent repairs, or take corrective action to the cause of the problem. Eventually, things fall apart.

But the energy field is more than just an individual blueprint that we carry. It is an invisible background that surrounds all of us. It is similar to the network of radio waves that are all around us that we can't see, but reach our radios and cell phones. There is some wonderful research about how the energy field around us affects us, and how we can connect to this field intentionally, and use it to our benefit. Some of the scientific research that explains this involves quantum physics. There is also evidence that information is transmitted through this field. Some of the research into these phenomena involved connecting plants and trees to lie detector machines and reading changes in the output in response to various events in their environment. This was done by Cleve Bakster, a lie detector expert, and by Dr. Burr.

It is postulated that the way that this energy field affects us is through the water in our bodies. There is work from Japan about the shape of water molecules. We all know that snowflakes have unique crystalline shapes. When you freeze water and look at it under a microscope, you can see shapes that are similar to snowflakes. A Japanese research, named Masuru Emoto, looked at the drinking water in several Japanese cities, and found that none of them formed good crystal shapes.

He looked at spring water from a variety of locations, and found that they all formed good crystals. He then took water from these different locations, and did a number of experiments with them. He wrote words, such as "I love you" or "I hate you" and taped it onto bottles of water. He also exposed the water to various types of music. Polluted water formed beautiful crystals when exposed to positive messages and classical music. Spring water lost its crystals when exposed to negative messages and to heavy metal music. We are over 70% water. Messages that are transmitted to us by our environment and by our thoughts, may affect the structure of our internal water.

There are many techniques, loosely referred to as Energy Therapy, which allow the body to reconnect with the energy field, that is our blueprint. They also allow participants to become more aware of the energy fields around them, and the effect that our internal and external environments can have on our well being. Some of these techniques have to be provided by a practitioner, and some can be supplemented by, or performed by the patients themselves.

For a period of time, I focused more on the energy field in my treatments, and less on the body itself. I have now come to understand that both approaches are needed in parallel.There is also a very important role played by the MIND. People are talking a lot about Mind-Body Connections. What does this mean? It means that our brain produces chemicals that travel throughout the body, and have effects remote from their source.

Medicine is now starting to acknowledge the connection between our minds and how our body functions. Candace Pert has identified chemicals created in the brain that affect how our entire body functions. The production of these chemicals is related to our emotional state, and may serve as the agents of the mind/body connection.

Why are illicit drugs so popular? They make you feel good. Did you know that the body can produce similar substances, called enkephalins. These are responsible for the "runner's high" that many athletes strive for. Well, how about adrenalin? Have you heard of the "fight or flight response?" When we face danger, our bodies prepare to fight the enemy or to run away. Part of this preparation involves the release of a chemical called adrenalin, which speeds up our hearts, expands our lungs, shuts down our intestines, and tenses muscles in preparation for action.

Think about your lives, and the pervasive levels of stress that we have all become used to: the noise, the crowds, the fast pace, the deadlines; and the limitation of options available to us. We can't kill our boss, in the same way that a cave man could kill a mountain lion. So, instead we seethe internally, with the adrenalin flowing, but with no output.

We also use a lot of body imagery in our language. We "eat our guts out". Someone is a pain in the neck, or other unmentionable parts of our anatomy. We "shoulder a burden". We are told to "grit our teeth" and bear it. One patient, with unremitting facial pain, told me how a business client had been unnecessarily mean to her, and had "mashed her face in it". I will suggest to you, that our bodies respond to these unconscious images, which contributes to our pain.

So, what can you do,After you've had a proper evaluation, the next step is treatment.As I mentioned, in my practice, I've found that a combination of manual therapy and energy techniques provide the best result. The focus of treatment is to find the root cause of the problem. This usually involves addressing multiple, successive layers. Sometimes the root cause is not in the part of the body that hurts. Sometimes, it is in the energy field around the body, and not in the body itself.

Why does this work on a longer term basis? I believe, and have found in my practice, that this approach gives more lasting results since it addresses the cause of the problem, and not just the symptom.How fast will results be? Sometimes one treatment is enough. Sometimes, a person feels better after one or a few treatments, but their pain recurs.

Typically, the pain is not as intense or as prolonged. Sometimes, the perceived pain is unchanged, but the body is moving better and the person can do much more activity. Why does this happen. The part of the brain that perceives chronic pain, called the thalamus, is relatively primitive, and will flash up the same pain "picture" or "message" even when part of the problem is resolved. It seems that sometimes, a certain threshold has to be crossed, before the thalamus is convinced that the problem is going away. Typically, younger patients will require fewer sessions for more complete results - basically they haven't driven their "car" for as many miles, so there's less that's gone out of alignment.

What role do medications have in this process? I typically do not prescribe a lot of medications. They rarely address the cause of the problem, and are typically not curative. They may manage one's symptoms, and help keep a person comfortable during the recovery process. This has to weighed against the side effects of pain medications, which can include stomach ulcers, sedation, constipation, and so on.

Lower risk of this approach over other approaches: All you have to lose with this approach is your pain. This may sound like a joke, but in fact, some people are defined by their pain, and become very threatened by a reduction in their symptoms.

Specifically, the approach that I have outlined can be used in combination with other medical approaches, but offers the possibility of relief in cases where people have been told that there is nothing that can be done for them.

It also offers an alternative to surgery. If someone tries this approach before neck or back surgery, or hip or knee surgery, there is generally nothing to lose. Obviously, if there is a situation of an unstable spine, which is relatively rare, emergency surgery is needed. Otherwise, there is no harm in delaying, and seeing if conservative, integrative, holistic management can correct the problem. If, not surgery can still be done. In some cases, surgery may still ultimately be needed, but if the mobility is restored to the rest of the body, the outcomes are much improved.

In the example of heel spurs mentioned above, surgery can be done to remove the spur, but without looking at and addressing restrictions in the rest of the body, the spur is likely to recur. Sometimes, the approach that I outlined can allow the body to resolve the spur on its own. Other times, surgery may still be needed, but the person is less likely to have a recurrence. In the case of arthritis involving the hips and knees, the pain can sometimes resolve on its own with this approach, and the body can repair itself.

In other cases, surgery may still be needed. However, if you have corrected the stresses in the rest of the body, then the body is much less likely to damage the artificial joint in the years following the procedure. With spine surgery, it is common to have problems in spine adjacent to the operated region. With this approach, surgery again can be avoided, and if still needed, successive problems may be avoided.

Specialities

Physicians are trained to treat the body. Medicine is now starting to acknowledge the connection between our minds and how our body functions. Candace Pert has identified chemicals created in the brain that affect how our entire body functions. The production of these chemicals is related to our emotional state, and may serve as the agents of the mind/body connection. Energy Medicine addresses the energy field around the body and how it interacts with our physical being.

Research has shown that our bodies have energy fields around them. In the 1930s, Harold Saxton Burr, at Yale University in Connecticut, measured differences in electrical potential from two different locations on the body. He showed that each person has a unique, reproducible, identifiable energy field. This was used clinically at NYU Medical Center to identify tumor locations preoperatively in the abdominal region, and to identify ovulation in infertile women.

Energy Medicine is a wellness model. It's not about curing illness or "fixing" a problem. It's about achieving ideal health. Energy Medicine allows the body to function in the ideal state in which it is designed to operate. By acknowledging the interrelationship between mind, body and energy, we are able to facilitate a person's recovery to ideal function.

What is the purpose of the energy field around the body,Dr. Burr was able to measure energy fields in adult salamanders, and found the same energy field in the unfertilized egg. He was able to identify what part of the egg would become the neural tissue, and inject a dye in that region. After fertilization, this dye appeared only in the adult salamander's nervous tissue. This shows a correlation between parts of the energy field, and physical parts of our body. It has been suggested based on this work, that in fact the energy field is the blueprint of our body.

Each cell in our body has the identical DNA, the same chromosomes and the same genetic material. What makes one cell become a heart cell, one a liver cell, and one a brain cell? Could this be our energy fields acting as templates, directing the body in its development? Our bodies are constantly remodeling and rebuilding. The cells in our digestive system are replaced every 3 days. Neural tissue can take up to 7 years to repair itself.

What is the blueprint for this process? The same energy field that directs the embryo to become an adult human can also direct the repair and rebuilding process. What if this blueprint becomes distorted? Will we rebuild based on incorrect information? What if the DNA in our cells stops receiving input from this blueprint? This would be like living in a house that you could not repair. Over time the house (our body) would no longer be viable to sustain life.

Tensegrity:Buckminster Fuller coined this term to define the balance of tension and compression in an architechtural context. Donald Ingber, at MIT, identified this same design in the human body, down to the subcellular level. It has been found that when the environment of our energy fields is distorted or blocked, then the DNA "locks up," resulting in one of three possible outcomes.

The first, is that the DNA becomes dysfunctional, and the cells are unable to repair themselves, resulting in a loss of tensegrity. The second possibility is for the DNA to develop a new cell line, which results in a tumor or cancer. The third possibility is that the cell is so dysfunctional that it dies.

Research by Japanese cell biologists addressed the issue of why cell cultures die after a certain period of reproduction, which has been attributed to the aging process. They found that the viability of these cells was related to the tension around the cell, such that once the tension reached a certain point, the cell's ability to continue to repair itself deteriorated.

What happens during treatment sessions,Energy Medicine is about allowing one's energy field and DNA to reconnect with each other, to allow optional cell function. Energy Medicine involves an intuitive communication between the practioner and client that allows normalization of the client's energy field.

This may involve the use of vibration of colors or words. Masaru Emoto, has shown how words affect the crystalline structure of water. We are over 70% water. The vibration of words can affect the structure of water within our body. By normalizing the client's energy field, the client's DNA can resume the process of producing enzymes and proteins which allow for cellular repair.

Awareness:One of the components of Energy Medicine is bringing awareness to one's breathing. This allows us to become aware of our body on a physical level. Often our thoughts our racing, leading us to become very involved in something that already happened, or planning, anticipating, or fearing something that might happen. How often are we in the present moment? When we think about something in the past that upset us, or are concerned about something in the future, this carries a "charge." When we are just "in the moment," walking down the street, and enjoying nature around us, there is "no charge."

We are aware of meeting someone, and being attracted to them, saying that they have "good energy," or being repelled by them, saying that they have "bad energy." When we are neutral, we are less likely to draw other people's "energy" to us. The more charged material we draw into our tissues and energy field, the more we disrupt the communication between our cells and the energy field. A major source of the energy that we draw to us is our own thoughts.

As explained above, words can affect the structure of our tissues. The words of our own thoughts can affect our own health and wellbeing. Thus, a quiet mind, when we are present in the moment, allows us to stay neutral, and reduce the charges that we draw to ourselves.

How is Energy Medicine help achieve health and wellness,The cell model notes that as we go through life, our cells are exposed to cumulative trauma which disrupts the communication between our cells and the energy field. The result is a loss of tensegrity which can lead to a state of disrepair, resulting in degenerative diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers, etc; endless cell reproduction, leading to tumors or cancer; and cell death, such as a stroke or heart attack.

As the communication between the cell and the energy field is restored, new cell lines can be terminated; dead cells can be removed; your own stem cells can be marshaled to repair the body; your own cells can repair themselves.How is Energy Medicine integrated into physiatry,Dr. Kahn will perform a full neuromusculoskeletal evaluation at the time of your initial visit. Areas of tissue tightness and joint restrictions will be noted.

Individualized treatment programs are designed to address and correct these areas of abnormal motion. Sessions will include manual therapy techniques developed by osteopathic physicians, and will be enhanced by the addition of Energy Medicine techniques as necessary. During the course of treatment, your tissues will undergo changes, allowing increased mobility and reduced tissue tension/muscle spasm. This will be assessed at each visit, and treatments will be directed at allowing these changes to continue. Your treatments will be supported by strengthening and fitness exercises to support the improvement in your tissues.

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Treatments For:

Back Pain
Cancer
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Consultation Type: Direct ConsultationAll patients have to come to the practitioner's location.

Review Judith Kahn - M.D. P.C

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