Do You Want to Say Good-Bye to Pain?

“It works,” exclaimed Linda Neely as she looked over the Atlantic Ocean from her hotel balcony while on a recent vacation to Myrtle Beach. Linda, a resident of Lutheran SeniorLife Passavant Community in Zelienople, is referring to Dolphin Microcurrent Point Stimulation (MPS), a non-invasive treatment that uses a low voltage current to relax muscles, calm the nervous system, and decrease stress and pain.

Neely had been struggling for years to bend and reach after back surgery and, thankfully, she didn’t have to go far to find treatment. After obtaining a prescription from her PCP, Neely reached out to the Rehabilitation Services Department at Lutheran SeniorLife.

“Having been a Physical Therapist for almost 30 years, I have never seen a device with a more profound impact on my patients’ pain and function,” explains Molly Bargerstock, a certified pain practitioner utilizing MPS, who treated Neely. “MPS is completely different from more familiar types of electric stimulation, such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units, which act by blocking the brain from feeling pain,” says Bargerstock. “MPS creates lasting change in the body by working at the cellular level via microcurrent. The current mimics the body’s own electrical current,” adds Bargerstock. Neely points out you must give the treatment time. Neely has had multiple treatments and says, “There is no doubt in my mind MPS is truly beneficial. This is the best I have felt in a long time.”

The Rehabilitation Services staff at Lutheran SeniorLife received training in the proper use of MPS to help decrease pain and improve functionality among patients. According to the “Journal of Alternative, Complementary and Integrative Medicine,” MPS can reduce post-surgical pain up to 75 percent. Clinical research also supports that old scars are responsible for 80 percent of chronic pain; usually this pain is not even at the site of the scar. Unlike medicines, there are no adverse side effects to receiving MPS.

“MPS comes from combining the Western medicine modality of electrical stimulation and the Eastern medicine approach where the whole body is viewed as working together and affecting all other parts,” says Bargerstock. “For example, when scars on the abdominal region are treated with this microcurrent, I have seen over and over a decrease in back pain and improved mobility among patients,” she says.

After attending her first training class and seeing immediate results, Amy Stewart, occupational therapist and Corporate Rehab Director for Lutheran SeniorLife, was convinced MPS is something that could make a significant difference for patients and residents of Lutheran SeniorLife. “Three years later, I am proud to see MPS making a difference across our rehab sites,” explains Stewart. “MPS appealed to me as a holistic way to manage pain and illness without medication,” she says.

If you want to say “goodbye” to pain and “hello” to more of an Abundant Life, contact the Rehabilitation Services at Lutheran SeniorLife at 724.452.3492 with questions or to set up an appointment.