Dr. George Kukurin
Chiropractic Neurologist
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Vestibular Stimulation: Somatic sensations are pain, heat, cool vibration and pressure. Note the purple box in the illustration below. These sensations ascend from the body and are integrated with some of the special senses like hearing, equilibrium, vision and smell. It is this integration that allows us to treat problems in the body by using things like vestibular stimulation and also treat problems like ringing in the ears by stimulating nerves on the body.
The nerves associated with vestibular function can be stimulated by placing an electrode behind the ear on the mastoid process (*).This activates specific portions of the brain that deal with balance and other functions.
Stimulation of the Vestibular System can be accomplished by irrigating the ear with water of different temperatures. This can be done as a diagnostic test or can also be used to treat hypofunction of specific parts of the brain. This technique is known as the caloric test or is called caloric stimulation when used as a treatment.
V.S Ramachandran of the Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California
at San Diego has pioneered many methods of neural modulation including Mirror
Box Therapy, caloric vestibular stimulation and related techniques. These techniques
are relatively simple, but often can produce incredible results for patients when
all else has failed. Brain based therapy is the last frontier in neurology. As technology
improves and our understanding of the brain and spinal cord increases, newer and
less invasive neural modulation techniques are emerging. The fundamental concepts
is that all these various neural pathways, while distinct, are integrated. This means
that knowing the connection of the various pathways allows a practitioners to stimulate
something like smell to treat a condition like migraine and doing something like
mild electrical stimulation behind the ear to treat chronic lower back pain.You owe
it to yourself to find out more.
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