INTRODUCTION TO THE NEURO CARE™ NP1000/4P
AND ASSOCIATED TREATMENT PROGRAM

An electric muscle stimulator ( EMS ) is a device that sends small pulses of electric energy through a muscle to cause contractions. These contractions may cause the muscle to strengthen, increase the muscle's mobility or promote blood flow. In most people, muscles tone and strength are developed through exercising the muscle physically. The process starts by the brain sending a signal through the spinal cord and to the nerves of the muscle. This signal tells the muscles to expand or contract. As the muscles continue to expand and contract, the tissue begins to break down. Once your body stops contracting the muscle, it will automatically start building the muscle tissue back up. The muscle will also make the tissue stronger to better face contractions in the future. With NMES, instead of your brain sending a signal to your muscles through the spinal cord, the NMES machine electrically stimulates the nerves attached to the muscle at the motor point. Once the nerves are stimulated, they cause the muscle to expand and contract, much in the same way as conventional exercise. This allows those who are unable to exercise in the traditional manner to still gain greater strength and muscle mass. NMES can be used for a variety of reasons including increasing blood circulations to the muscle, relaxing muscle spasms, prevention of muscle atrophy in patients unable to use parts of their body, prevention of venous thrombosis during or after surgery, and increasing range of motion. Electrotherapy stimulates injured muscles and joints to activate the body's natural processes for relieving pain, building strength and promoting healing.

Due to the latest electronic technology, the Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P unit is able to achieve more muscle recruitment by using higher voltages but much lower currents during the treatment, this greatly reducing patient discomfort by using this revolutionary technique. Due to this combination, a new Treatment Program© has been developed which is causing excitement in the medical community.

The Neuro Care™ NP1000/4P unit utilises a non-invasive therapy used to help in the treatment of the following problems: muscle spasm, prevention or retardation of disuse atrophy, re-education and strengthening of muscle groups, maintaining or increasing range of motion, reducing edema (swelling), increasing local blood circulation.

The Neuro Care™ treatment combination is dramatically effective for treating the following: soft tissue injuries (i.e. back strains and sprains), TMJ, stress induced muscle problems (i.e. cervical/neck spasms), Diabetic neuropathy, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, lack of circulation, range of motion, repetitive deficits (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Occupational overuse, i.e. low back) or incidences where soft tissue trauma has occurred.

Physiotherapists and Doctors using the Neuro Care™ range of products and accompanying Treatment Program© are quite excited about the results. Many claim this is a genuine breakthrough in the treatment of many disorders. The results disprove some long held theories and have opened the door to some exciting new research in medicine, as well as answering the problems found when using previous modalities of this type.

Increased local blood circulation via Muscle Stimulation has been clinically accepted, both in terms relating to rehabilitation and in general conditioning of healthy skeletal muscle. Conditions which are a result of, or exacerbated by, the existence of a chronic involuntary muscle contraction due to spasm are effectively treated by the Neuro Care™ products . The application of a precisely metered and controlled specific electrical waveform to the underlying skeletal musculature relieves chronic muscle spasm. In a number of disorders, the chronic spasm results in local swelling and increased pressure on the adjacent tissue. If nerve roots are in this field, a reduction of the swelling and a disruption of the chronic spasm can have a dramatic impact on the patient's condition.

The Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P unit offers genuine non-invasive intervention. The treatment works with the underlying causes and is not merely a symptomatic treatment attempting to disrupt pain impulses. If specific skeletal musculature is involved in chronic spasm, pre-existing joint dysfunction and pain may be exacerbated. In these cases an effective, well tolerated, and safe method of treatment can be achieved with the Neuro Care™ unit.

There are many types of electrical muscle stimulators on the market and most of these are basically the same. The TENS is separate from the EMS . The indication for TENS is pain. Electrical muscle stimulation ( EMS ) units are therapeutic, working to control what causes the pain. Just as a narcotic and an anti-inflammatory can both be used to relieve pain, so can the Neuro Care™ unit and the TENS. Just as the two medications relieve pain through different neuro-mechanisms, so do the two modalities. The indications for the EMS are:

  1. Relaxation of muscle spasm

  2. Prevention or retardation of disuse atrophy

  3. Increasing local blood circulation

  4. Muscle re-education

  5. Immediate post-surgical stimulation of calf muscles to prevent venous thrombosis

  6. Maintaining or increasing range of motion

These are the problems that cause most pain. The only offering of the TENS is to diffuse the pain. The Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P unit has a higher output than any other electrical stimulator currently on the market today. Where other units invoke the “active” muscle fibres at a maximum of 125 volts the Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P can invoke the “inactive” muscle fibres (due to injury, trauma, disuse, etc.) at a maximum of 440 volts. Current is the painful part of electricity. Other EMS units achieve the 125 volts at 90 milliamps of current, the Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P achieves the 440 volts at 4 milliamps of current. Patients can normally tolerate a maximum of about 10 milliamps of current without suffering varying levels of discomfort, therefore normal EMS units very seldom reach the potential of 90 milliamps at125 volts and thus they cannot “saturate” the “active” muscle fibres to reach the “inactive” muscle fibres. Ten milliamps on normal muscle stimulators is 30 volts. Four milliamps on the Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P unit is 440 volts. The reason Neuro Care™ has this ability is that it has an AC (alternating current) output, whereas the other stimulators utilise a DC (direct current) output. This feature is currently proprietary to Neuro Care™.

The machine is simulating exercise not only to the “active” muscles but also to the “inactive” or injured muscles, thus allowing them to be strengthened and re-educated. The Neuro Care™ NC1000/4P unit can do this, even though the patient cannot, because it does not invoke the reflex arch mechanism. Thereby being able to work the inactive muscles without the use or need of medications (narcotics or steroids). By being used at home it allows the patient to have treatments for a longer period of time than would be financially impossible within a clinical setting.

The Neuro Care™ and the Neuro Care™ Treatment Program© has widespread application to the maintenance of already healthy skeletal muscle tissue, as well as general athletic conditioning. Certain muscle groups in the body are notoriously difficult to exercise optimally and easily. These include the Gastrocnemius, the Gluteus Maximus as well as the abdominal wall musculature and the paraspinous and paravertebral musculature. In order to properly exercise muscle groups, the patient must utilize highly specialized weight machines. While doing this, certain exercises can place enormous stress on the body and aggravate underlying orthopedic conditions. An example would be doing squats in order to build-up the Gluteus Maximus. This can aggravate a pre-existing accentuation of a Lumbar Lordosis and if there is any component of disc disease present, this will impose an effective limitation to the amount of exercise the patient is able to do, as well as exacerbating the lower back disease. With the use of the Neuro Care™ and Neuro Care™ Treatment Program© the muscle groups can be isolated and worked to the maximum. In the case of the Gluteus Maximus, it is very simple to isolate this muscle and re-educate it without placing any significant strain across the lower back.

 

CLINICAL RESULTS

Physicians working with Diabetic Foot Condition, have commented, "the results seen have truly been a medical breakthrough." In just one to two weeks patients are able to see granulation of deep wounds (stage four) and bring about deep wound healing in three to six weeks (this is due to increase in local blood circulation). Patients who have been scheduled for amputation have been brought back to healthy tissue in just six to eight days. (Visual results are generally immediate).