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Millimeter Wave Therapy Uses and Precautions

Is Millimeter Wave Therapy Good For Inflammation and Pain Relief?

An image of a young man getting millimeter wave therapy on his shoulder socketMillimeter wave therapy is a type of therapy that uses electromagnetic waves. The electromagnetic waves are of a low-intensity millimeter wavelength. Itā€™s a non-invasive method that uses non-ionizing microwaves locally on the skin. It aims to ameliorate many different issues, from pain to cardiovascular problems to diabetic polyneuropathy.

To be clear, it is not a therapy for the diseases themselves. It's more used as a complementary therapy that can help relieve some of the issues these diseases can create. With that in mind, hereā€™s a list of issues that millimeter wave therapy might help address:

  • Pain relief
  • Wound healing
  • Side-effects of chemotherapy
  • Dermatitis
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular problems

Because millimeter wave therapy is non-invasive and non-ionizing, it is safe with relatively few side effects. Itā€™s also quite painless and inexpensive.

Similar to UV irradiation therapy, it is much more popular in the former Soviet Union, where it seems to be quite successful. Until recently, it was still unknown to most mainstream medical professionals in the US and Western Europe. Although there are relatively few clinical trials and peer-reviewed studies about millimeter wave therapy, if interest in it increases, so will the interest in conducting trials and studies on it.

In this article, weā€™ll cover its applications and possible benefits. We'll also give you a few precautions about its use, especially if you have Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) or dysregulation of the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response.

Stress and Millimeter Wave Therapy

Adrenal fatigue is a condition that arises from chronic stress. Its symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, brain fog, anxiety, mild depression, hypoglycemia, salt and sugar cravings, low libido, PMS, infertility, hair loss, dry skin, lowered immunity, food and drug sensitivities, an inability to handle stress, and heart palpitations, among others.

Chronic stress puts pressure on your adrenal glands to keep producing more and more cortisol. Cortisol is your bodyā€™s main anti-stress hormone. But as the adrenals work overtime, they get exhausted. After a while, their ability to produce any more cortisol drops significantly.

Adrenal fatigue will also affect your NEM since your adrenals are part of its Hormone circuit. Your NEM is made up of the Hormone, Bioenergetics, Cardionomic, Neuroaffect, Inflammation, and Detoxification circuits. All of them are involved when youā€™re facing chronic stress.

This Is Where Youā€™d Need To Be Careful With Therapy

All of the NEM circuits can also be affected by the types of therapy you are undergoing. Thatā€™s why itā€™s important to first understand the effects (both good and bad) of the therapies you are thinking of trying before you actually try them.

For the sake of understanding, we will go over some possible benefits millimeter wave therapy could have on the NEM. However, keep in mind that this is still an experimental form of therapy and shouldn't be used on everybody. Always consult your doctor on what is appropriate based on your individual needs.

Millimeter Wave Therapy for Pain Relief: Review

A review of different studies conducted on the effectiveness of millimeter wave therapy for pain relief showed some interesting results. Included in this review were studies on:

    An image of a doctor examining a patient's joint pain

  • Headaches
  • Postoperative pain
  • Joint pain
  • Trigeminal neuralgia
  • Neurological pain from abdominal cancer
  • Burning mouth syndrome
  • Oral lichen planus
  • Vertebral osteochondrosis

Before getting into the results of some of these, itā€™s important to know that only three of the nine randomized controlled studies reviewed described their randomized method. And only two of them were investigating the pain-relieving effects of millimeter wave therapy directly. The rest of the studies found these pain-relieving effects as an additional finding when looking for other effects.

Now for the results of the review.

Millimeter Wave Therapy for Headaches

For headaches, the review looked at studies of patients with atherosclerosis of arteries in the head, above the cranium. In many cases, headaches are caused by the tightening of the blood vessels in the head. This is especially true with migraines. In one study, 122 out of 177 patients treated with millimeter wave therapy experienced complete relief from the pain.

Although headaches are not the most common symptom of AFS, other AFS symptoms can definitely lead to headaches and migraines. For example, the insomnia related to AFS. If you donā€™t get enough sleep, you are much more likely to get a headache. Also, hypoglycemia, where your blood sugar levels drop, can lead to headaches too. Not to mention the stress that brings on adrenal fatigue can also be a cause of headaches. This, however, is also why it's so important to try to get the root cause of the headache rather than just putting a bandaid on it.

Millimeter Wave Therapy for Joint Pain

Joint pain is usually a sign that thereā€™s inflammation in your body. If your Inflammation circuit is not functioning properly, inflammation can spread from one area of your body to others, such as your joints, and then cause pain there.

In the review, the studies they looked at showed the effects of millimeter wave therapy on patients with primary osteoarthritis and in children with rheumatoid arthritis. All of these conditions cause joint pain.

The primary osteoarthritis patients were split into two groups: one group received millimeter wave therapy on different acupuncture points alongside their usual medications while the other group only received medication. The results showed that the group that went through the additional millimeter wave therapy had less joint stiffness, less joint pain, and lower levels of c-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is an inflammation marker, and lower levels of it indicate that the inflammation has gone down after treatment. The studies conducted on children with rheumatoid arthritis showed similar results.

In our opinion, the results showing the anti-inflammatory effects of this therapy are just as exciting as its pain-relieving effects. Thatā€™s because inflammation is one of the biggest culprits in not only adrenal fatigue but also in the dysregulation of the entire NEM.

Millimeter Wave Therapy for Neurological Pain

Millimeter wave therapy targets different types of neurological pain, such as trigeminal neuralgia, neuropathic pain from abdominal cancer, and diabetic polyneuropathy.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition that affects the nerve that carries sensation from your face to your brain. This nerve is called the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal neuralgia can cause occasional extreme pain when your face is touched in a certain way. Neuropathic pain is pain that results from any damage to somatosensory nerves. Cancer can do that, as can type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

In the review, the study on trigeminal neuralgia showed a significant drop in pain levels in the group receiving millimeter wave therapy than those receiving a sham form of it. The study on patients with abdominal cancer showed that those receiving millimeter wave therapy ended up completely stopping their opioid pain medications after a while.

Another study (not related to the previous review) on 51 patients with diabetes showed a reduction in the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score (TCNS) to 7.58 in the group that received millimeter wave therapy compared to a reduction in TCNS to only 9.56 in the group that received a sham form of it.

Conclusion

An image of a doctor giving a patient millimeter wave therapy on their heelMillimeter wave therapy is a form of non-invasive therapy that uses electromagnetic waves. It focuses on helping the body deal with pain and inflammation in different conditions. It is very popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Many health professionals there are confident in its effectiveness. At this point, itā€™s not yet that well-understood or studied enough to make it into the Western mainstream, but interest in it is increasing.

Reviews of some studies did indeed show that it can help with pain relief and inflammation. One study looked at its ability to reduce sensorimotor polyneuropathy in patients with diabetes. The findings were quite positive.

But, if you have adrenal fatigue or NEM dysregulation, make sure you double-check with your practitioner or provider to see if this is the right step for you. This is especially the case if you are in the more advanced stages of AFS. Thatā€™s because we donā€™t really know how it will affect your adrenals, and whether it will add to the stress on your body or not.

Have Questions?

If youā€™re unsure about what kind of recovery plan to follow, or whether the complementary therapies youā€™re considering are suitable for you, you can consult with the Dr. Lam Coaching team. We offer a free** no-obligation phone consultation at +1-626-571-1234 where we will privately discuss your symptoms and what your options are. You can also send us a question through our Ask The Doctor system by clicking here.

Ā© Copyright 2021 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Lam's Key Question

Millimeter wave therapy is a non-invasive therapy that uses microwaves. It is very popular in the former Soviet Union for reducing pain, inflammation, and other conditions. Studies on it are scarce till now, but the few that have been conducted show promising results. Could it be suitable for you?

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