Vibroacoustic medicine

Vibroacoustic Medicine and Pain.
Everything in the universe moves at all times. Electrons move around the nucleus. When objects expand and contract, it is called wavering, fluttering, or most commonly, vibration. Sound is the wave of molecules that push on our eardrums, making it vibrate and creating signals, which our brain registers and interprets.

What is vibroacoustic? The term comes from the Latin verb vibrate (to vibrate, to wave) and the Greek verb akouein (to hear). Vibroacoustic may be defined as “the process of propagation of sound vibrations through the body.”(1) Vibroacoustic therapy involves sound that is felt and heard. It uses sound as a medical intervention to reduce pain. The development of this technology is based on the recognition that external vibrations can influence how the human body functions.

From ancient times, mankind used several methods of vibroacoustic therapy, such as gargling, massage by tapping and stroking, showering, and spa therapy. Vibroacoustic stimuli occur naturally in your body all of the time, but you are not aware of them because they are very slight. To get an idea of the phenomena, you close your ears tightly with the palms of your hand and clench your teeth. Your chewing muscles will contract and you may hear their wavering, which is vibroacoustic in nature. The sound is like that of a bee.

You encounter vibroacoustic stimuli, daily. When you are running, the moment your foot hits the ground, your body receives vibroacoustic stimulation. A baby’s first cry is vibroacoustic stimulation, which accelerates blood flow in his or her body.

Hence, scientists decided to experiment, to see if this type of vibration could help human beings by fixing “the strings.” Therefore, the question is, “Can one balance the vibration of his or her body?” Several groups of scientists and physicians from different countries investigated this assumption. Multiple theories were tested. Numerous trials were conducted. Eventually, a list of diseases was created for which vibroacoustic therapy could be used as a good treatment option. This list is very long; however, it was determined that arthritis is a major condition that can be managed with vibroacoustic therapy.

The fact that sound and very small vibrations combined can be a form of treatment may be difficult for some of you to believe. Does this means that if you place a loudspeaker next to your painful joint, then play classical, jazz, or rap music, for example, your joint pain will disappear?

Our body consists of cells. They naturally vibrate in sound frequencies and can be heard with the use of tiny probes connected to electronic microscopes. This amazing discovery was made at the University of California a few years ago. When disease developed, cell vibrations changed. For example, cancer cells sound different than normal cells. We hope that in the future, doctors will be able to “hear” these changes, thus enabling them to diagnose illnesses at the onset (2). Our approach is very different. We apply small vibrations in the form of sound energy directly to specific points around your painful joint. Our treatment regimen is designed with specially selected frequencies, which have the same rate as our own bodies’ naturally occurring vibrations. They are constantly changing as your own vibrations vary from one cell type to another.
These small vibrations in specially selected sound frequencies (called vibroacoustic stimulation) possess several qualities, which make them excellent choices for the treatment of your arthritis. There are MANY positive effects of vibroacoustic stimulation which contribute to the healing of your joints:
Vibroacoustic therapy acts on special nerve endings (receptors). When stimulated, these endings send non-pain messages to the brain that will end your pain.(3,4,5) Simultaneously, pain receptors become inactivated, leading to a decrease in pain signals to your brain on the spinal cord level. This effect is similar to TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator) units which have been used to treat chronic pain for over twenty years. It is mostly seen when low frequencies are used. Clinical trials conducted in Europe and North America has confirmed this (6, 7,8).
Vibroacoustic stimulation has contributed to blood flow improvement in the affected area by expanding and contracting the capillaries around a joint. Sound energy gently stimulates your joints and increases blood supply from four to fifteen times in the region where the vibrations are applied. This results in the removal of toxins, pain mediators, and a decrease in inflammation, which means less joint damage. Also, if you take medicine about one hour prior to application, it will be absorbed more efficiently. This effect is mostly seen with higher frequencies.(9)
Synovial fluid is ultimately the key to the improvement of your joint health. It serves as the main nutrition provider for cartilage, causing it to work better, slowing down its deterioration, and even enhancing some regeneration. Better quality synovial fluid makes it an improved shock absorber, which is one of the major joint protections. Vibroacoustic stimulation (sound energy) improves the quality of synovial fluid. A study of the phenomena was performed in the US on mammals (10).
When sound energy is emitted by ArthriFonâ and reaches your cells, it forces them to vibrate. If the outer pulsation coincides with that in the cell, the final result will be improved cell function. This is a novel approach, which is now being studied around the world. Hopefully, the results of this research will be seen in the near future. The frequencies of live cells vibrate around 1000 Hz and below or in sound band range. Scientists noticed that dead cells have vibrations, too, but they are chaotic because the molecular movement in them is not coordinated and has different frequencies.(2)
Thus, vibroacoustic stimulation promotes a natural healing process for your arthritis and delays or stops the progress of the disease. Among the many benefits of vibroacoustic therapy is:
· Soothing action on nerve endings
· Blood supply increase
· Inflammation decrease
· More and better quality synovial fluid
Improved cartilage regeneration.

References:

1. . Boyd-Brewer C . and McCaffrey R. Vibroacoustic sound therapy improves pain management and more, Holist Nurs Pract. 2004 May-Jun;18(3):111-8; quiz 118-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?dbpubmed&uid15222599&cmdshowdetailview&indexedgoogle
2. Signal Discovery? By Mark Wheeler Smithsonian March 2004
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2004/march/phenomena.php
3. Pantaleo T, Duranti R, Bellini F., Effects of vibratory stimulation on muscular pain threshold and blink response in human subjects. Pain.1986. Feb: 24(2): 239-250. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmdRetrieve&dbpubmed&doptAbstract&list_uids3960570&query_hl=1
4. Chesky K, and Michel K., The music vibration table (MVT): a developing and conceptual model for pain relief. Music Ther Perspect.1991: 9:32-37 http://music.utsa.edu/tdml/conf-II/II-Chesky&Kondraske/II-Chesky&Kondraske.html
5. Hollins M, Roy EA, Crane SA. Vibratory antinociception: effects of vibration amplitude and frequency. Journal of Pain. Sep 2003, 4(7):381-91. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmdRetrieve&dbPubMed&list_uids14622680&doptAbstract
6. Lundeberg T, A comparative study of pain alleviating effect of vibratory stimulation, transcutaneous nerve stimulation, electroacupuncture and placebo. Am J Chin Med.1984. Summer; 12(1-4): 72
7. Hansson P, Ekblom A., Exrtasegmental transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and mechanical vibratory stimulation as compared to placebo for the relief of acute oro-facial pain. Pain 1985. Nov: 23(3): 223-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?dbpubmed&cmdRetrieve&doptAbstractPlus&list_uids3877900&query_hl57&itoolpubmed_docsum
8. Guieu R, Tardy-Gervet MF, Roll JP., Analgesic effects of vibration and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation applied separately and simultaneously to patients with chronic pain. Can J Neurol Sci. 1991. May 18(2):113-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmdRetrieve&dbPubMed&list_uids1712660&doptAbstract
9. Olivery DJ, Lynn K, Hong CZ., Increased skin temperature after vibratory stimulation. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1989. Apr: 68(2): 81-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmdRetrieve&dbPubMed&list_uids2930643&doptAbstract
10. Infrasonic Increases Hyaluronic Acid (HA) in Joints
http://www.chinahealthways.com/hyaluronicacidsummary.htm

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