Physician Research

Leonard Knell M.D.
Fax: 330-494-5915
Email: lknell@yahoo.com

July 13, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

I am an Orthopedic Surgeon who had been in private practice in Canton for 34 years and have now been retired from active practice since December 2004. Over the years I have always felt that Massotherapy has been a very effective adjunctive therapy for the musculoskeletal patients that we see in our office. Several years ago, Mike Jones introduced my to the benefits of Neuromuscular Therapy, and I now strongly believe that NMT adds an additional dimension in caring for many musculoskeletal patients.

I have always felt that many of the pain patterns that we see are not completely related to the joint per se, but also to muscular imbalances around the joint itself. When treating the patient, if the muscular pain around the joint subsides, in many cases so does the pain within the joint. Mike has brought back to my attention much of the physiology of the neuromuscular system, which we as physicians once learned, but over the years seemed to forget.

There is constant communication between the central nervous system and the body, and between the body and the central nervous system. A sensory stimulus is perceived by the patient at the level of a peripheral sensory receptor and this signal travels through the afferent nerve to the spinal cord, up the cord to the thalamus to the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex, and then back down the cord to the stimulated area. If the stimulus is strong enough, it will spread though the internuncial pool causing widespread dissemination of the signal. Our nervous systems work on the basic principle of excitation and inhibition, and this central integrative state of the CNS is dependent on afferent impulses.signals going to the brain. The lack of these afferent signals is deafferentation and it is Mike Jone's hypothesis that the largest cause of this deafferentation is nerve compression which occurs at the level of the neck, and also by lack of mechanoreception. It is this deafferentation which is at the root of many musculoskeletal symptoms.

With Mike's method of NMT, he attempts to correct the cervical curve and at the same time increase mechanoreception. He does this by decreasing soft tissue pain by using deep muscular massage, or NMT. In addition, he has developed the Jones Hyperextension Intersegmental Technique for working on the cervical spine and also uses a postural pump to help restore the cervical curve. And finally, he uses neurological exercises to balance the central nervous system, which increases the afferent signals sent by the mechanoreceptors.

Mike has postulated that Fibromyalgia is caused by pain signals overwhelming the central nervous system and that the proper afferent signals are not getting though to the brain. By restoring the proper curvature of the neck and alleviating nerve compression in the neck, he feels that more of the good afferent signals can get though to the brain, and that when this occurs, other areas of the body will respond to treatment with NMT and the Fibromyalgia disappears.

I have sent a number of patients to Mike who I felt were suffering from either left or right sided compression in the cervical area. These patients for the most part had failed one or more trials of conventional physical therapy. Some had previously received chiropractic treatment as well, and had failed that also. Using his techniques, Mike has been able to get most of these patients back to a functional level, and I have been very impressed with his results. In addition, I have examined twenty five of Mike's patients whom he has treated for fibromyalgia and/or chronic fatigue syndrome. The diagnosis in all of these cases was made by an M.D., usually a Rheumatologist or a Physiatrist. These patents had not responded to the usual conventional treatment for fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Using his technique, Mike was able to effect essentially complete resolution of the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue symptoms in all of the patients that I have examined to date. One patient with chronic fatigue, who tested positive for Epstein Barr, reverted back to normal after completion of treatment.

I find Mike Jones to be a very honest, caring and knowledgeable therapist. He has my utmost respect in the way he has approached his field of NMT and the basis of his hypothesis, which led to the treatment, which he has developed, makes good sense to me. The proof of a treatment is whether or not it works..and from what I have observed, Mike's treatment does work.

If there are any questions concerning this matter, I can be reached on the internet at Lknell@yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Leonard Knell M.D., F.A.C.S.

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