Bite stick can relieve pain, spasticity, and even Tourette’s syndrome

The following YouTube video is >10 years old and dates back to the beginning of neuromodulation research.

The speaker, Prof. Vince Clark, begins by describing the problems with his son Ryan, who, after an ankle injury, developed Sudeck’s disease – a “crippling pain syndrome” (CRPS = chronic regional pain syndrome).

I’ve written several articles about these terribly poor patients; here in Austria, they’ve usually been on morphine for years.

The boy, Ryan, was given a legitimate antidepressant, “amitriptyline,” by good pain therapists and subsequently developed severe dystonia (spastic twitches and paralysis), and his pain barely improved.

An unusual turning point was a simple bite stick

Through a support group, Clark came into contact with another neuroscientist whose daughter also suffered from CRPS and who, by chance, discovered an astonishing effect:

Patients who bit down on a special bite splint or an orthopedic mouthpiece often showed rapid improvements in spasticity and pain perception.

Since Ryan could no longer tolerate medication and had been in a wheelchair for many weeks due to the unbearable pain in his ankle when walking, Prof. Clark gave him a stack of tongue depressors as a trial bite aid.

The result was phenomenal: That same day, Ryan was able to walk for the first time in weeks.

In the lecture, you can see astonishing cases with immediate improvement

Prof. Clark documented several similar cases. In the video, Ryan can be seen laboriously walking with a walking frame – until he bites down on the wooden spatula. Suddenly, he can stand almost freely and walk with only a cane.

In another case, a woman with severe mobility impairments stands up after an accident after biting down on a simple bite aid – and begins to walk almost normally.

Significant improvements have also been observed in other conditions such as dystonia, tremors, or motor disabilities, even in a patient with Tourette syndrome.

In some cases, symptoms disappeared within seconds when the patients bit down on a simple bite aid.

Prof. Clark healed his son with a “Mouth Guard”

I imagine this is a bite splint and asked the AI ​​what it actually means:

Bite splint must be “higher”

Prof. Clark explains in his lecture that the bite splint must have a certain height; if it’s too “thin,” it’s useless. I haven’t found any special bite splints based on Vance Clark online. Perhaps a reader here has an idea or a link, or perhaps a dental technician can help us here. Please leave a comment below.

Possible mechanisms of action

Prof. Clark points to early functional MRI imaging studies that showed significant changes in the cerebellum – a brain region central to movement coordination.

One hypothesis is that biting stimulates the trigeminal nerve, which has extensive connections to the central nervous system.

Historically, Clark recalls the earlier practice of placing a piece of wood between patients’ teeth before surgery without anesthesia – perhaps not only to protect the teeth, but also because of an actual neurophysiological effect.

Resistance and Lack of Research

Although the results are promising, such simple devices have received little interest in the medical industry. Complex, expensive technologies are considered superior – a misconception, according to Clark. Precisely because simple devices such as bite guards or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are so inexpensive, financial support for large-scale studies is often lacking.

Clark also criticizes the economic structures of the US healthcare system, where expensive treatments are more financially attractive than simple, non-patentable alternatives.

Conclusion: Simple can be effective

Clark sounds – understandably – frustrated in his presentation, having firsthand experience of the one-sided focus on medication in conventional medicine through his own son’s experience.

He is committed to ensuring that cost-effective, safe aids – such as bite guards, tDCS, or colored filter glasses for children with developmental disabilities – are finally investigated in high-quality studies.

His plea: If we invest billions in new drugs, we should also be willing to invest modest sums in simple, potentially revolutionary approaches.

Additional Reference:

https://psmag.com/social-justice/low-tech-pain-relief-something-simple-mouthguard-cure-ails-84149/

Image by ChatGPT