I am speaking to all of you because caregivers, family members, or friends often accompany my patients and participate during our initial informational conversation.

Here I would like to answer some frequently asked questions:

What happens during the treatment?
How long does the treatment last, and how many clinical visits will it require?

The treatment is an outpatient procedure. After an introductory informational session during which we hope to answer any questions you may have, we will conduct your clinical examination, checking all the medical information and paperwork you have provided for us. Drawing on those notes, we develop a treatment plan that lists the number of points and implants respectively. A price will be listed, which is calculated by using the formula of € 70.00/implant plus associated fees. If the patient then feels comfortable with our assessment, treatment plan, and the costs, we perform the implantation surgical procedure during the same appointment.  We have facilities equipped for minor surgery within our medical center suite.  Local anesthesia will be administered, after which the implantation of the titanium implants is completely painless and quick, usually accomplished within 30 minutes. The Nurse/Assistant will provide appropriate aftercare, and will explain carefully follow-up instructions for the patient for the first week or two following the procedure. The whole procedure lasts about two hours. In general, the treatment can be completed in one session, assuming an appropriate amount of implants were inserted at this time.  In some cases, increased benefit has been found by adding a few implants during our check-up examination, which occurs between six months to one year following the procedure.


What is the effect of the treatment and what is the aftercare like?

Immediately after the treatment, most patients report a marked sense of improved well-being. They feel more relaxed, mobile, their bodies feel at ease and calm, without the familiar inner tension of Parkinson’s.  Often their posture and gait is notably straighter and stronger. Some patients are so overcome with joy and relief at how good they feel, they even literally dance around the room, dancing with joy. We are observing here the so-called “phenomena of seconds.”
During the next weeks and months, the patient will most likely experience cycles of alternation of stronger and weaker periods; however, the good cycles will gradually increase, and the difficult cycles start to become less and less prominent until they disappear completely. You can observe typical development of the healing process in the graphs of a study conducted by independent neurologist Alexandra Henneberg, M.D., a Professor at the University of Giessen.

Figure. 1

As the patient’s Parkinson’s symptoms start to recede, it becomes necessary to reduce the dosage levels of the medication. The patient notices that his or her mobility is not only increasing but may become excessive - the patient becomes “hyperkinetic,” or experiences an increase in dyskinesia, one of the common side effects of conventional dopamine medications. The movements can become irregular and involuntary, and the patient may be unable to sit or lie still. In this case, the previously used medication has to be slowly reduced. We advise our patients to keep a journal in which they can record their periods of hyperkinesis. We can help the patients in their decisions to reduce during phone consultations, since most neurologists are not yet familiar with our method of treatment. To date, the patients I have treated in the past 40 months take far less medication than other patients untreated with PBS who are at comparable stages of the disease. Also the reduction in medication dosage tends to be greater in patients who have had the disease for a long time – or rather have been taking the medication for a long time. 

Figure. 2

A new imaging technology called DaTSCAN enables the diagnosis of Parkinson’s. You can find further information here: DaTSCAN analysis.

Highest-quality needle points are used in my practice:








Figure. 3 - This is 1000x enlargement of the medical titanium needle points we use in the ear.  These are neither externally visible nor internally uncomfortable for the patient.

Inferior grade needle points sometimes used by other practitioners
















Figure. 4 - The irregularities and lack of uniformity and precision make these needle points unacceptable.

yours,
Dr. med. Ulrich Werth,
Magdeburg, November 2006