Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Pain Neutralization Therapy Review!

Ok this will be a new one for me. I am wanting to get my opinion out there about an issue and could not find the how and where on the internet at large so am going to post this on my blog.

Since I am an avid researcher into anything that may be effective in addressing health issues, it is expected that I run into many, many new therapies. I do my best to evaluated these therapies and if possible, I try to find a way to learn them. Knowing I have limited time, financial resources and learning capacity, I have to evaluate just how effective a therapy might be. Is it good enough for my clients that I just know about the therapy? or is this a therapy that I could/should learn for the sake of treating my clients?

What are the reviews/critiques out there on the specific therapy? Is there any scientific research to back up the therapy and to add to the numerous personal testimonies? I've learned therapies that cost hundreds and some that were initially offered for free. All with great value, so the price of something does not necessarily determine how "worthy" any given therapy is.

Just recently I have been investigating Pain Neutralization Therapy. It sounds very interesting. They say it is based on the Gate Therapy of Pain. Developed by a Chiropractor by the name of Steve Kaufman. Kaufman's office is in Denver. I read through all the pages and pages of DR, ND, DC, PT, LMT testimonies and finally was convinced I wanted to order at least an intro to the therapy. This therapy by the way is suppose to be "very easy to learn" "so easy a 14 year old could easily learn it".

I found the offered DVD training and was quite confused by the offers. 16 DVD's comprises the basic learning set. Wow, that's a bunch of DVD's to teach a supposed easy to learn technique. It went on from there to list other offering of which it is not real clear as to just what you learn or get with each set of DVD's. I don't know, maybe you need to attend a seminar before you understand the specific terminology. However, since this is a website I would expect that all to be explained more clearly on that website.

Since I was soon to be going through Denver, I decided to call DR Kaufman's office and discuss just what was on his DVD's and why they were worth the $1295 price tag he had put on the set of 16 that comprised the introductory offer? AT the very least, I thought, I just might make an appointment to have him use this therapy on me as I have had some pain in my legs for over a year now and I thought it would be a great experience to receive some first hand experience with how the awesome this therapy worked first hand.

I called Kaufman's office, there was a message to leave your name and number and Kaufman would happily return your call. So I dutifully left a message. Shortly thereafter a male, not Kaufman, called me back. I ask my questions about the pricing since it was unclear to me from the website. He assured me that it was clear on the website. My bad. Sorry, I thought I was the one calling him to clarify. Anyway, we did not get past his "obviously, if the cost is too much for you then this isn't for you" and the finalee of "This must just not be the right time for you" with a click when he just hung up on me!

My first impression is that PNT is just a scam. It looks like they are only interested in selling the high priced DVD sets. They are certainly not interested in good customer service. OK, I can't honestly say that I know anymore about the therapy, but I sure have a bad taste in my mouth with the way they do business. Evidently if you have any honest questions they are not prepared to answer them. They are only interested in selling those DVD's to people who have no further questions and are already convinced that they are worth the overblown price. Hey, I tried to give them an opportunity to explain to me why these DVD's were worth so much. I was ready to dish out my credit card info for the info, but first I want my questions answered. I guess they just don't have time for that.

I'll still research this therapy, but in my mind, the Kaufman office guy owes me an apology. We didn't even get to the place where I could ask for an appointment. But then maybe they are making so much on the DVD's that Kaufman doesn't have Chiropractic hours anymore. Still he didn't have to treat me so rudely

If anyone has any first hand experience with PNT or these people, please let me know what that experience has been.
Until next time,
Be healthy,
Health Bug

21 comments:

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  2. What disturbes me: Mr. Kaufman does not demonstrate a single technique in his numerous You Tube videos nor in any description of the method. The fact that nobody can post commentaries on the videos also arouses my suspicions. I recently contacted someone in Germany who whished to sell a set of dvds for a substantially reduced price. It turned out that they had already been sold. The seller told me, that he/she was so disappointed with the presentation and quality of the dvds that he/she didn't even bother to view all of them. That's just one voice, but it's not encouraging to hear such critique when you're supposed to dish out more than $1000. Does anyone have more (honest, free from marketing hype) information on this product?

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  3. There is a discussion among chiropractors about the technique here:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SacroOccipitalTechnicForum/conversations/topics/15046

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  4. I have virtually all of Kaufman's DVD's except the Manual Spinal Nerve Blocks.

    All the DVD's I own were produced with very poor presentation and quality of videography and angle. The presentation was kiddy, and the video was home-made.

    The numerous references to anatomical parts were very vague and unscientific, making them very difficult even for the professional to figure out.

    As I am a certified provider of Active Release Techniques and Trigenics Myoneural Medicine, I normally use these techniques first before trying out Kaufman's Techniques. The handful of times I have actually tried using his techniques, I have either lost patience mid-way in trying to find alternative tendons to manipulate, or lost faith in the technique before completing it.

    However, the couple of times I have combined PNT with ART and Trigenics, the results were phenomenal. I cannot say definitively if the positive results were from PNT or ART and Trigenics, but they seemed to be from PNT.

    His Cervical protocols don't seem to work on my clients. The testimonial you will see on his website where I reported a positive result using his Hypertension protocol on my mother was not followed with similar results on any of my subsequent clients who had hypertension. In fact, the post-treatment BP's of all the latter went up!

    Some of his joint mobilization techniques were variants of Brian Mulligan's Mulligan's Technique and seemed like total rip-off's.

    I have just written to Kaufman regarding his Manual Spinal Nerve Block DVD's and am awaiting his reply.

    Please feel free to contact me for further feedback on his DVD's.

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    1. i have the pnt basic dvd and the cervical technic is one of the few that work on my clients..do you have the advance cervical protocol dvd??

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  5. By the way, one of the techniques that has really worked on me was the TNT, or Trigger Point Neutralization Technique, but these DVD's have been replaced with the PNT ones, and I don't think Kaufman sells the TNT DVD's any more.

    Also, the energy technique of pulling the tendons at the joints distally towards each other also seems to work very well.

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    1. Thanks for your input on this technique. I am and ER nurse and have brought extremely high blood pressure down with EFT!. I know there are many things that work Just did not get off of square one with Kaufman and his PNT. As stated in my opinion above, if someone has something as good as he claims it is then he and whoever is selling it should not be put off by the need to "sell you on the point that they are terribly expensive.

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  6. I use the PNT techniques every day in my practice. It only works on about 90% of the people that come in. I do agree that the DVDs are low quality. However the information contained within is astonishing. I have grown my practice significantly with referrals alone just from the results that I have had with the PNT techniques. As in any manual technique this takes practice to master. If the technique is not working on your patients, it's not the technique it's that you need to practice more. I work in a setting where both chiropractors and medical doctors are both using techniques to turn off pain even chronic pain that has been going on for years. I don't understand how this blogger can write about a technique that they've never been taught are never used in practice and call it a scam. My patients and the results they receive and they get would beg to differ. I have made my money back 100 times over with just the one set of DVDs that I got for 1297. Again this isn't for everyone this is only for those that want to try something to expand their toolbox and practice and help patients were maybe other therapies have failed. ~ Dr. Montgomery, Texas

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    1. Dr Montgomery, Texas,
      Thank you for your comments. I never called this technique a scam, I questioned the rudeness of the "office Person". Rudeness can be a put off to any technique even if the technique is truly working. I was simply hunting for more information about the therapy and was told nothing. In fact your comment was more informative than anything I didn't hear from DR Kaufman's office. I believe people who are checking out this post are sincerely looking for information about this relatively new therapy. So once again, I thank you for your post.

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  7. I had a similar experience with Steve Kaufman's office.

    I read about the Pain N T and it sounded interesting. I called their office and asked them about an upcoming seminar posted on the web. The man who answered the phone was very rude. He told me I can't not participate in the seminar and hang up the phone. I was so amazed how someone who is claiming to be in business treat someone like that... I called them again and ask the guy if he is Mr Kaufman and he says no and that he is his clinic manager and his name is Robin (spelling). I was visiting in Denver few weeks later and called again. a man pick up the phone not sure if he is the same one I spoke with earlier or not . I told him that I am in Denver and want to try the Pain Neutralization Technique. He told me they are not taking new clients and said no one in Denver will do it either and hang up the phone on me again!

    My gut feeling is that his is all scam run by people who don't have any skills to run a business

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    1. Thank you Unknown for sharing your experience with Dr Kaufman's office. Your experience confirms the rudeness that I experienced was not a one time event, ie, bad day for the office manager etc. I acknowledge that this does not make this therapy a scam but it does pull into question the motivation of the person selling all those poor quality DVD's. Not that quality of a DVD really speaks of how effective a therapy is either. It is just that most people see that and they think 'poor quality DVD = poor quality information". Sounds like they have a marketing glitch more than anything else.

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  8. I agree with Matthew Montgomery 100%!
    Because I've been treated by Dr. Kaufman, been to his seminar, and watched some of his DVD's, I must defend Kaufman in this discussion.
    Kaufman is an eccentric genius. He discovered the PNT technique himself and has continued to refine and develop it over the past few years.

    He deserves to be a billionaire because the information is GOLD. I will not give away the technique, because it is worth many thousands more than he charges for his seminars and DVD's. I don't blame him for not wanting to give the technique away on youtube or in a book!

    If you are a doc or other practitioner and not using his PNT technique, you are missing out on helping many people. This is a light-touch technique--you will never hurt anyone. It is not like the manual labor of chiropractic--very easy on the doctor and on the patient!

    My wife is a DC, and she loves it! She was already a fantastic healer with a gifted touch. She has just started using PNT in our practice for two weeks now, since we attended the Oct 2015 seminar. I was the skeptical husband/office manager, and I was truly amazed at the seminar. I am a believer now, and I'm just trying to decide the best way to implement this in our practice model. She is a novice in the technique, yet we are seeing wonderful results, just like at the seminar.

    There were about 80 attending the seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn in Denver. The group was a mix of practitioners from all around the world, including MD, DC, DDS, PT, DO, AC, ND, MT, etc. Kaufman took volunteers from them (including me and my wife) and "neutralized" trigger points on the spot. The technique does not treat the trigger point directly, but a "switch" that is linked in some way to the point of pain. The link can be a meridian, for example (there are many). The concept is that the trigger points are the CAUSE of the overall condition. Neutralize a few of them and ultimately the overall condition goes away. You feel the trigger point relief on the spot, instantly. You may or may not notice improvement of the overall condition right away. My golfer's elbow of one-year was improved at least 70% at the seminar, and has continued to improve the past week to about 90% as my wife has treated it. He relieved my wife's trap pain on the spot 100%. A female massage therapist sitting beside us had frozen shoulder for years and was relieved on the spot. She was shooting her arm straight up, versus just over 90 degrees before the Tx.

    I could go on, but the testimonials are there. It is just as described in the testimonials on his website. Kaufman's technique has helped make our practice FUN and EXCITING again. You will never believe it until you experience it in-person or until you perform it on someone and see the results. Yes, it is definitely a leap of faith, and you should expect a learning curve and some self-study and practice. Although I am not medically trained, I understood the concept and feel that I could do it myself.

    The course of treatment is generally 6 to 10 visits, but as I stated, relief can come much sooner than that. He cautions that it does not work on everyone all of the time, and the practitioner must always rule out pathology or more serious issues.

    Keith M.

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  12. Thanks for writing this blog post. I was initially interested in learning a new technique, however i was put off by their website--the typical 5page long advertisement that doesn't even bother to list a price at the end! I like to know how much I'm paying for something. it first said $200 discount, then $400 discount..it went on and on with a lot of exclamation points, but no price and no one answering the phone. Also, I am a doctor that does a hands on technique (NAET) and although I will not teach it to anyone because it is trademarked, i can give a brief description that it is an accupressure technique with allergen exposure to eliminate allergies. Kaufman website cannot even give the first hint of what it is? from one of the responses above it sounds like a technique of light pressure on certain points until they are blalanced. this is taught in applied kinesiology. So it is in fact, not secret and does not sound like Kaufman has trademarked the technique, although maybe has trademarked "PNS" which is why it sounds like previous videos are no longer sold? anyway, i will not make a purchase without knowing the price.

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  13. Do not deal with the man known as Rufolf Karriqi. He's a supposed physio from Albania who will try to sell you pirated copies of Dr. Kauffman's techniques that he promises to send via drop box. He lies and will try to get you to send cash via Western Union. Not only is what he is doing illegal, but you won't get the proper video's. At first you believe he's selling you the used DVD's, which would be within his right if he didn't make copies of them for his own further use, but he's pirated them and put them on drop box for your download and keeps the originals. Further to that, he doesn't send the ones you think you are buying.

    Steer clear of Rudolf Karrigi.

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  14. The message above is meant to read Rudolf Karriqi as the physio from Albania to not ever send any money too. He's a liar.

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  15. That two persons higer are scam dont trut them, I give videos first after get the money people. If you are interesed about that videos just let me know. First send the kaufman technique on video and after the payment. Thanks

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  16. I am Mr. Rudolf. That two persons higher are scam dont trust them, I give videos first after get the money people. If you are interesed about that videos just let me know. First send the kaufman technique on video and after the payment. My contact email rudolf_karriqi@hotmail.com. Thanks

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