Controlling Autonomic Sympathetic Hyperactivity with Dry Needling, Spinal Manipulation, and Quantum Homeostasis

Have you had patients with hypersensitivity, hyperalgesia, or any other type of sympathetic hyperactivity? As PTs, ATs, and DCs, the majority of patients we see have sympathetic autonomic hyperactivity to some degree or another. There are lots of impairments that involve parasympathetic hyperactivity; however, most of them fall outside our scope of practice. Remember: The parasympathetic portion of the ANS (PANS) primarily controls subconscious activities such as digestion, organ function, breathing, etc., and the primary nerve of the PANS is cranial nerve X—the vagus nerve.

Lucky for us, with the right knowledge, it is relatively simple to significantly dampen and reverse sympathetic hyperactivity by targeting the PANS, bringing the ANS towards homeostasis. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, including needling manipulation, although there is one way that we can most directly access the vagus nerve, the primary nerve of the PANS. The auricular branch of the vagus nerve directly innervates the concha of the ear.

Needling the concha of the ear, especially with about 2 Hz stim bilateral, has been shown to significantly depress sympathetic hyperactivity. The other areas to target for parasympathetic stimulation with resultant sympathetic depression are the sacral plexus (S2-S4) and the suboccipital / upper cervical periosteum. (I like the base of C2 spinous process). I like to connect these 3 areas to each other in different ways with low frequency microcurrent, followed by manipulation. There is something amazing that occurs in the brain when you do this. I think it involves significant increases in neural plasticity secondary to changes in quantum relationships within the body. (Check out my blog on quantum needling for an intro into some weird stuff. I have more blogs on this coming).

We know that needling regulates spontaneous electrical activity and blood perfusion in the brain somehow, depending on where the needle is placed. This helps both sides of the body. The effect that needling and manipulation have on the brain is poorly understood; however, I believe it is the primary method by which they work. They both have awesome effects on mechanical structures, don’t get me wrong, but the primary method by which they work, I believe, is nervous system regulation, particularly the ANS. Needling has a stronger effect on the nervous systems than does manipulation; however, when used together, they have powerful, synergistic, and healing effects on the body and mind.

One of the mechanisms by which this occurs is beta-endorphin release from certain brain centers, along with white blood cell (WBC) perfusion, secondary to increased microvascular circulation, nervous system regulation, and other mechanisms we do not yet understand. Remember: Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a potent microvascular dilator that is released into the bloodstream when targeting the PANS. Like many substances in the body, CGRP is paradoxical. In proper concentrations, it is essential and helpful. In certain concentrations, it is a potent pain amplifier, along with other bad stuff. Needling and manipulation, when applied thoughtfully, have an overall regulatory and homeostatic effect on CGRP concentration along with other peptides. Remember: Tribonucleation of the joint capsule, or cavitation, also induces significant beneficial neurophysiologic responses.

Aside from depressing sympathetics, beta-endorphin is a powerful, morphine-like analgesic. How many patients go see any doctor with zero pain? With the combination of most of our patients being in some sort of pain and having sympathetic hyperactivity, it is beneficial to target the PANS with your treatments along with whatever else is going on. Although treating areas like the thoracic spine will elevate sympathetic response, if you dampen this effect by stimulating a parasympathetic response, the nervous system will more quickly calm down after the needles are inserted. This allows the sympathetic spike following initial insertion to resolve more quickly, providing the patient more time with the needles in the body with a more homeostatic nervous system. This significantly improves treatment efficacy. I like to leave my needles in for 30 minutes, if tolerated. I promise that you will see longer lasting and more beneficial results with your patients. Helping the nervous systems return to homeostasis is the most healing thing I know how to do.

We know for a fact that needling the concha of the ear directly induces beta-endorphin release, and it has been shown in studies to have greater pain dampening effects than NSAIDs along with the ability to reduce opioid dosage by up to 40% postoperatively. The specific mechanism of action by which this occurs is only in the early stages of understanding.

Quantum biology / mechanics, including quantum tunneling, cohesion, entanglement, and other quantum phenomena (I have new ideas), as we come to understand them better, will be the key to unlocking a vast array of medical advancements. The way quantum stuff is studied at the moment precludes the study of quantum phenomena in warm environments, such as the human body. We just don’t know how to study this weird stuff very well…yet. This is why it’s so exciting! We are on the frontier of new, extremely powerful forms of medicine that have yet to be conceptualized and understood. If we could put a number to the total amount of medical knowledge available in the universe, I would bet we understand less than 5% of the total, if that.

The crazy things I see on a consistent basis—like black magic—when needling and manipulating, have no other current explanation, as far as I can tell, other than quantum biological / mechanical theories or something similar. Needling, I believe, is the best, safest, easiest, and most obvious treatment to employ to specifically study the effects of quantum strangeness in the human body. Microneurography, as far as I know, is currently the gold standard for monitoring the ANS. If you are a physicist reading this, let’s discover something! I am relatively sure that quantum theory and its future are the key to more fully understanding health and the planet, in general.

There is something else going on when we target the PANS, something incapable of proper description with our current knowledge. The results you see from regulating the ANS are nothing less than stunning. There is some type of quantum entanglement, coherence, or something that is established, maintained, and altered from conception throughout life. Due to the proximity of our 3 original cell lines, endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm, along with organelle separation, communication and the vast majority of biologic processes we don’t understand, it seems there is some completely misunderstood aspect or aspects to our universe that we have yet to discover. This is so cool! Think about all the awesome stuff we have yet to discover!

There are significant, obvious, immediate, and positive effects of needling and manipulation on the nervous systems. The primary and most influential effect of needling, as far as I can discern, is the homeostatic alteration of the ANS, in particular, regulating the SANS and PANS towards homeostasis. The ANS is one of the most important mechanistic systems in our body. Proper ANS function is essential for a healthy and happy life. If your ANS is dysfunctional, the consequences are innumerable, many of them unknown and detrimental.

Check out my other blogs for more cool and strange ideas!

Jason

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