Beverly Voss, Jill Luigs, and Stephen R. Summey, D.C., Longmont, Colorado.
The Quantitative Effects of IET on ten subjects, as Measured by Algometry and the Pro-Adjuster, Functional Spinal Analysis
Investigators: Beverly Voss, Jill Luigs, and Stephen R. Summey, D.C., Longmont, Colorado.
Abstract:
The purpose of this case study was to investigate the effect of Integrated Energy Therapy on pain perception (measured by Algometry) and spinal function (measured by the Pro-Adjuster, a specialized sensor which measures functional mobility of the spine) using 10 subjects with chronic pain of at least 3 years duration.
Key Word Definitions:
1) Integrated Energy Therapy (IET) was founded by Stevan J. Thayer. Stevan Thayer is an ordained Interfaith minister, international speaker, instructor, author, and lecturer. Stevan and his work with IET have been nationally televised via the PBS Frontline Series and his work is spreading worldwide. The IET technique uses a high vibration pure energy from spirit to energize and release energy blocks through IET integration power points. IET works at the level of each primary human emotion and correlates it to a physical region of the body and the human energy field. The beauty of the IET method is that most people can release the suppressed emotions and related energy blocks without having to “relive” the traumatic event or pain. These energy blocks create physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual disorders. IET is a safe, gentle, nurturing way to release patterns of the past and help to empower and bring more balance into one’s life. More information about IET can be found at www.LearnIET.com.
2) Algometry consists of a pressure instrument known as an algometer, which has a one centimeter rubber-tipped stylus and a force dial which reads in pounds or kilograms. This device measures sensations of pain due to pressure. Kilograms were used in this study. Pain threshold is determined by the amount of force/cm2 required for a person to first perceive pain. This reading is then recorded. Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary @ 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
3) The Pro-Adjuster is a sophisticated technical instrument used by doctors for spinal analysis and adjustment. This system uses an advanced software package designed to assist the doctor in locating spinal dysfunctions, subluxations and/or fixations. Using sophisticated sensors and software, the Pro-Adjuster is able to pick up motion dynamics at previously undetectable levels. These sensors are also used by aerospace engineers and civil engineers to measure for metal fatigue. The size, shape, and frequency of the waveform provide a chiropractor with the specific conditions of spinal motor-units. More information about the Pro-Adjuster can be found at www.pro-adjuster.us.
Procedures:
The ten participants in this study had chronic pain for at least 3 years. The various causes were due to car accidents, Fibromyalgia, spinal fusions, migraines, and other minor but chronic strain/sprain injuries. This study was conducted over a three day time period.
On Day 1 the participants completed Questionnaires, which assessed how their pain affected 10 different activities of daily living. They were then measured for pain threshold with the algometer and for spinal function by the Pro-Adjuster. Once the results were recorded by the volunteers, the subjects laid down on massage tables for 50 minutes. Then retested with the same procedures afterward to discover the effects of simply lying down, which is the same thing they would do for IET. This was the “control” situation.
On Day 2, the following day, the participants were again tested with the same procedures as they had received on Day 1. Instead of just lying down, they received a 50-minute session of IET. All but one participant did not know what treatment they were receiving. The practitioners administered the treatment without explaining what they were doing and then recorded which energy fields they felt were released at each of the power points. At the end of the sessions the participants were tested for the last time.
Once all the data was collected and tabulated, the participants met with the volunteers to go over the report of findings.
1) In our IET study, the test subjects rested fully clothed face up on a massage table for approximately one hour. The IET facilitators used gentle therapeutic touch directing healing energy vibrations toward specific areas of the body that hold blocked emotions. What is meant by a blocked emotion is this: As the brain stores the data (name, dates, sequence of events) as related to our traumas, so does the body store the emotions related to our stories. We stuff (suppress) the energy of our experiences when the event is too much for our emotional circuitry to handle. We stuff, or suppress it to best deal with it another time. During the IET sessions energy blocks were released and cleared through IET power points along the spine and elsewhere. Discordant energy imprints were also cleared in the corresponding energy field. Through the IET method we cleared blocks created by suppressed emotions that were related to physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual traumas and disorders. After clearing, IET reintegrated and balanced universal life force energy to flow easily throughout the clients’ human energy fields. This clearing and balancing of the human energy field promoted healing at all levels that were tested.
2) Before and after resting on Day 1 and before and after the IET treatment on Day 2, the subjects were shown the algometer and demonstrated as to how the instrument works. We selected and tested the same points as described by the American College of Rheumatology for Fibromyalgia for a standardized system of points which are consistently painful in these and many other patients with chronic pain. The results and interpretation were threefold:
- Difference in pressure pain threshold between two symmetric points in the same person (e.g., right upper Trapezius and left upper Trapezius) exceeding 2 kg;
- pressure pain threshold less than 3 kg; and
- low pressure pain threshold values as compared to normal values obtained in pain-free control subjects:
Various muscle groups (1,2) and lumbar spinous processes. (3)
3) The participants leaned forward on the Pro-Adjuster chair (like a seated massage chair) while the doctor used the instrument to measure each vertebra in their spines before and after resting on Day 1 and before and after IET on Day 2. The software program recorded all fixations and abnormal mobility on a computerized printout. The Pro-Adjuster has an inter-examiner reliability rating of 94.8%.
Conclusions:
What we discovered was that overall the subjects tested worse on Day 1 after resting, and improved on Day 2 after the IET sessions.
The algometer readings showed that after testing 16 points on each subject their average scores before IET were less than their average scores after IET, meaning that they tolerated pain better after IET. The higher the score, the more pressure (pain) the person can tolerate, or the less sensitive they are.
The spinal scans revealed that the average fixations and abnormal mobilities were higher before the participants’ IET sessions, meaning that fixations and abnormal mobilities were more prevalent before IET.
What we concluded from these results is that IET affects spinal function and pain levels without ever touching any of the above. Empirically the spinal fixations lessened, spinal mobility improved and pain tolerance improved. The participants told us that they felt more peaceful than they had felt before. One participant who had migraines on a weekly basis told us she hadn’t had even a slight headache since her treatment, which had been about 10 days previous to this statement. She also told us that she had raised her window shades for the first time in years and was able to enjoy the sunlight. As the migraines had made her light sensitive, this was a new experience for her.
Recommendations:
During the report of findings the volunteers discovered that the participants were asking what to do next. Overall, each one thoroughly enjoyed their sessions, felt extreme peace, and achieved an awareness that had not been in their faculties before. Therefore, it was decided that we would work with them for six more sessions – one per week – with “homework assignments” in between treatments. The assignments were to help them direct their thought patterns in a way that would help them better cope with their daily distractions and/or interruptions. It’s somewhat of a combination of mental gymnastics with the homework and emotional releasing with IET.
Further investigation is warranted with larger populations.
Acknowledgements:
Contributing authors/investigators, thanks to the following people for their volunteered time:
Beverly Voss is a certified practitioner and Master Instructor with IET. She has spent many years at the Ozark Research Institute (ORI) in Fayetteville, Arkansas as well as Hannah Kroeger’s Peaceful Meadow Retreat in Boulder, Colorado. She is also a Reikki Master. Contact info: 720-898-5678 or heartlink100@aol.com
Jill Luigs is a certified IET practitioner. She worked in a chiropractic office for 21 years. Contact info: 303-651-1303 or angel_light1707@yahoo.com
Stephen Summey, D.C. has been in active practice for 24 years in Longmont, Colorado. He is board certified in chiropractic orthopedics and is certified by the Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians. He is a founding board member of the first multi-disciplinary rehabilitation center in Longmont. He’s also certified in IET, and the first chiropractor in Colorado to integrate the Pro-Adjuster technology into this multi-disciplinary practice. He incorporates IET, physical rehabilitation, massage therapy, nutriceuticals, reflexology, low level laser and meridian therapy into Summey Wellness Center Contact info: 303-776-2939 or www.Glyco.com/StephenSummey