IMS or intra-muscular stimulation is the use of traditional acupuncture needles to stimulate deep muscle fibers that have become myofascially locked.   Muscles need to move in order to be healthy.  When the nerve supply to a muscle becomes irritated, the muscle can become shortened.  This can then lead to muscle imbalances because shortened muscles don't generate as much force as those at their normal length.  For example, in the spine, an exiting nerve root may have become irritated due to any number of factors.   This then causes the associated spinal stabilizers to become weak and tight.   This tightness then causes additional nerve irritation, and so on.  To treat this condition, an acupuncture needle is inserted into the deep spinal stabilizers and a small electrical stimulus is applied.  This stimulus releases the muscle and allows the spinal segment to move normally again.  This technique was first described by Chan Gunn, M.D., a medical doctor who has combined the best of traditional Chinese medicine with the western concepts of radiculopathy and myofascial pain.

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