By Jonathan V. Wright, M.D.

For the past four months Tahoma Clinic physician Gaston Cornu-Labat, M.D. (practicing at the Tahoma Clinic in Redmond, Washington) has been on what he calls a “pain relief rampage,” using no patent medicines, no supplements—only his hands to provide relief. Dr. Gaston is also a surgeon, and says “It’s so nice to find something entirely different and so effective to do with my hands that not only doesn’t hurt, but relieves pain!”

Last October Dr. Gaston visited Denver, where he learned a revolutionary method for relieving chronic pain known as the Kaufman Pain Neutralization Technique, (PNT). Since his return from the seminar Dr. Gaston has been treating chronic pain of almost all types. He started to practice the technique with his colleagues and co-workers at Tahoma Clinics in Renton and Redmond and—as he puts it—to “spread sweetness.” After a few weeks, he passed on his PNT education to Tabitha Werblud, N.D., who practices at Tahoma Clinic North Seattle, so this pain-relief technique would be available at all three of Tahoma Clinic’s locations.

Pain Neutralization Technique is the lifetime work of Dr. Steven Kaufman, D.C., L.Ac. from Denver, Colorado (www.painneutralization.com). After using it in his own practice for years, in 2006 Dr. Kaufman started teaching his technique to other healthcare practitioners. As noted above, PNT uses no patent medicines, no supplements, only hands, and is not invasive in any way. PNT is based on a carefully chosen series of gentle maneuvers of the body’s exterior soft tissues, which can literally “turn off” pain signals to any given area of the body. There are no known adverse effects.

Dr. Kaufman discovered that by applying various pressures with his hands to certain key points on the surface of the body he could relieve all kinds of chronic pain from the mild to severe. He continued to develop and improve his technique for years, and after many requests, he began teaching it to other health care practitioners. Dr. Kaufman’s seminars are intense, two consecutive twelve to thirteen hour days. He demonstrates the various aspect of the technique treating every attendee who volunteers. After that, the attendees apply what they have learned by practicing on each other with Dr. Kaufman supervising.

Non-invasive technique relieves most chronic pain

While very little in medicine and health care works 100 percent of the time PNT is so effective at eliminating or substantially reducing chronic pain that it does seem hard to believe. However, the proof is in the performance and I’ve personally talked to a dozen or more MDs and DOs who’ve had their chronic pain relieved in one session. I’ll share that story with you in just a few moments, but for now, back to Dr. Gaston.

The first week after Dr. Gaston returned from Dr. Kaufman’s seminar, a Tahoma Clinic medical assistant volunteered to be one of the first PNT patients. He did the treatment on her ankle, which had been hurting since a severe fracture ten years before. She’d had several surgeries to fix the break and she was left  with screws and plates in her ankle. She had pain every day. Her doctors had advised her that pain would be a permanent part of her life and probably would get worse over time.

Her chronic pain was relieved within 10 minutes

The pain in her ankle was relieved in approximately ten minutes. At the Tahoma Clinic weekly doctor’s meeting three days later, she reported to all of us that her ankle had been pain free since that first session. Four weeks later she had a second treatment when some of the pain returned at a much lower level, and once again, all her ankle pain disappeared.

Dr. Gaston treated another man who had been experiencing foot pain for two years. His big toe had been removed as the result of a serious infection. He limped into Dr. Gaston’s office and took off his sock and rolled up his pants leg to reveal the source of his pain. While they were talking, Dr. Gaston used the PNT technique on his foot and lower leg. The man reported that he felt as if the pain was “flowing away…like magic” as the technique was applied. Later, he walked away from Dr. Gaston’s office without a limp. The next morning, he got out of bed and put full weight on the damaged foot first, and was stunned that there was no pain at all for the first time in two years!

These two individuals had their chronic pain completely relieved. When Dr. Gaston came back from Dr. Kaufman’s seminar, he decided to keep very careful track of the first forty chronic pain patients he used the technique on at the Tahoma Clinic-Redmond, so that he’d be able to answer questions about what range of responses might be expected from the application of PNT. Before and immediately after treatment, everyone was asked to score their chronic pain on a scale of one to ten, with “one” being a very mild pain, and “ten” being the worst imaginable.

100 percent of those treated experienced some pain relief

Eight of the first group of forty (20 percent) had complete elimination of their pain with one treatment. Another eight (20 percent) had at least a five point reduction in their perceived pain score. All forty (100 percent)—including the twenty who rated their before treatment pain score at a seven or above—reported a minimum reduction in pain of two points or more with the first treatment. After their first treatment, sixteen individuals (40 percent) with “before treatment” pain scores of five or higher reported pain scores of zero or one.

Those who had partial relief with just one treatment returned for more, hoping for further pain relief, and haven’t been disappointed. When this was written, the “complete relief” with several treatments score was up to twenty-three of forty (57.5 percent), and the others were improving with further treatment, but not yet totally pain-free.

Learning the “ten-minute” pain-relief technique

I accidentally learned how effective Dr. Kaufman’s pain relief techniques are at a meeting of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (“ACAM”) a few years ago. I noticed a long line of thirty or more doctors and other health care practitioners waiting to get into a crowded seminar room. When I asked what was going on I was told that “a chiropractor” was demonstrating how to relieve chronic pain using just ten minutes of “hands-on” work!

The doctors and other health care practitioners in this long line had heard so much about this “ten-minute” pain-relief technique from attendees of the previous day’s session that they didn’t mind at all waiting for their own turns. Over the course of the meeting, I encountered many of those who’d been waiting in that line. Every one of them had noticeable relief of one or more chronic pains, some had 100 percent relief. It appeared “that chiropractor” was really onto something.

Some time after that ACAM session, Dr. Robert Rowen wrote at length about the effectiveness of Dr. Kaufman’s techniques for relief of chronic pain, and about the absence of any known adverse effects. (Dr. Rowen is the best practitioner and teacher in these United States of ultraviolet blood irradiation ozone therapy, hydrogen peroxide, and other oxidative therapies.) While Dr. Rowen and I don’t agree about everything I respect his opinions and this, and my experience at the ACAM meeting, convinced me that someone at Tahoma Clinic should learn from Dr. Kaufman.

So when Dr. Gaston—who is also a surgeon, and knows how to do delicate work with his hands—joined Tahoma Clinic, he volunteered to go to Dr. Kaufman’s seminar as soon as he heard about it.

After Dr. Gaston’s first few weeks of experience, he decided that Dr. Kaufman’s techniques should be made available to clients at all three Tahoma Clinic locations. After consulting with Dr. Kaufman, Dr. Gaston taught what he’d learned to Dr. Tabitha Werblud, who practices at Tahoma Clinic North Seattle. Dr. Werblud was soon using PNT to relieve the chronic pain of clients in her office as well. She gave me the following success reports.

Agonizing back pain dramatically relieved with just one session

A 45 year old retired Army Ranger was seen because of back pain. His list of past physical trauma and injury was extensive, even impressive. From multiple concussions to broken ankles, and nearly every segment of his body in between, the injuries were primarily acquired during Ranger training and deployment.

At his first visit, this Ranger self-scored his mid-back pain at seven to ten (depending on where in his back) out of ten. He could only face his head and body in one direction at a time, as his pain would increase dramatically if he turned his head or back separately in either direction.

When he was face down on the treatment table, the muscles along the right side of his spine were actually two inches higher than those on the left. (Dr. Werblud and most other Tahoma Clinic physicians have never seen that before.) After the first PNT session, the muscle groups were even on the right and left, and he scored his pain level at three of ten for the first time in many years.

He was skeptical that the pain relief would last, because the treatment was so gentle. But at the time this is written, he’s had three more treatment sessions to address other pain issues. He’s reported that back pain has been no higher than a five of ten at any time since his first treatment.

Competitive teen swimmer bounces back from a severe car accident after PNT

A 15 year old high school competitive swimmer had been injured when his bike collided with a car. When he was struck by the car he was thrown over its hood, landing on the pavement hands-first. His right wrist was broken, requiring hand-to-shoulder casting. His orthopedic physician thinks his right shoulder became inflamed and strained during the extensive immobilization.

He was not able to move his right shoulder without pain, around the shoulder joint, itself and the right side of his upper back. His scored his pain from three of ten to nine of ten, depending on his activity level. The front of his right shoulder was incredibly painful to touch and approximately 10 percent larger than his left shoulder. The muscles on right side of his spine from the base of his neck and down ten inches (from the first to the seventh thoracic vertebrae) were tight and swollen.

When he lay face down, the right side of his back looked like a mound. It varied from one to two inches higher than the left side, was very sensitive to touch and very tight. After his first treatment, the raised muscles to the right of his spine were lowered to ¼ inch above the left, and he scored his pain at one of ten. At the time this was written, he’d had four total PNT sessions. He reports that his pain levels are lower.

At his first visit, he was not happy that yet another doctor would be poking and prodding at his shoulder, which had so far just produced more pain. After that first visit, he has been happy to return because he gets immediate relief, and is experiencing overall improvement in his pain levels and his swim times, and finds the treatment relaxing. He actually slept through the last two treatments!

On Dr. Kaufman’s website (www.painneutralization.com), there are brief reports from over forty MDs, DOs, acupuncturists, and other health care practitioners from all around these United States. Most of them describe how their own chronic pain was relieved—often completely—with PNT. Some describe how well PNT has worked for their patients. None report any adverse effects.

If you, a family member, or someone you know is suffering with chronic pain, why not eliminate it for good or reduce it considerably with PNT? To find a PNT practitioner near you, check Dr. Kaufman’s website or call 1-800-774-5078. And if you live within driving distance of Tahoma Clinic Redmond or Tahoma Clinic North Seattle, consider having Dr. Gaston or Dr. Werblud eliminate or reduce your chronic pain.