Las Vegas therapist has a new treatment for pain
Reported November 06, 2007
Most of us have aches and pains but getting rid of them is a challenge. The Healthline 3 Team tells us about a new therapy.
Patients are finding some remarkable relief with a relatively new therapy being done at Sports Physical Therapy in Las Vegas. The therapy is a little unusual. And though seeing is believing, in this case the opposite might be true.
It looks like quackery and physical therapist Scott Pensivy would be the first to agree with you. “Well, the first time you saw it you thought it’s crazy. It took me almost a year to be convinced it worked.”
It is Primal Reflex Release Technique or PRRT. The therapy is used to trick the central nervous system so it stops working overtime and you feel pain relief.
Beth: It’s difficult to explain, but what essentially are you doing?
Scott Pensivy: We’re taking the body and putting it in homeostasis. We’re trying to down regulate the pain going after what we call the sympathetic nervous system.”
“I don’t really understand it, but I just know that he’ll touch places on your body that hurt and then he’ll do it and then it doesn’t hurt,” said pro golfer Scott Piercy. Piercy is a believer and so is Dr. Alina Garcia, a family practitioner.
“I thought it was crazy,” Dr. Garcia admits. “I thought this is some gimmick. But if it’s not going to hurt and has no side effects, I’ll try it.” Dr. Garcia tried PRRT after shoulder surgery. Even her surgeon couldn’t beleive the difference it made in just two weeks. “Viewers are going to see this and think this is the hooky pookiest thing I’ve ever seen. But I am a believer. I treat patients with chronic pain. And I brought this technique to my group,” Dr. Garcia said.
Healthline 3 decided to put Scott Pensivy and PRRT on the spot. Beth Fisher had pain in her lower back shooting down her leg for two weeks.
“It’s helping patinets with fibromyalgia, chronic pain. Acute pain. And I use it in my practice to assess whether is it a dysfunction or a derangement. If it’s a derangement, we’re sending them off to specialists,” Scott Pensivy said.
We shot this story two and a half weeks ago and Beth is still pain free. It is not a miracle cure, however. If you have a break or a tear this won’t help you. But Pensivy claims you’ll know within a few visits if PRRT will provide any relief. Each treatment costs about $100.