Who would have thunk! The delivery to my Boston area Neuromuscular Therapy center of my latest professional journal last week brought this interesting news. Dr. James Oschman (Ph.D) who authored the surprisingly believeable book Energy Medicine reports that “recent research has documented a variety of benefits from the transfer of charge from the earth to a barefoot organism.” On the list of benefits are “improved sleep, pain reduction and rapid effects on inflammation.” Apparently it is called “earthing.” It’s similar to “grounding.”

You’ve heard of free radicals, those molecules that contribute to aging and disease? They are molecules with a free electron looking for a mate. Not surprisingly, they stir up trouble because they are very needy. It seems that electrons transferred from contact with the earth can satisfy this need and neutralize their reactivity.

So what does this have to do with chronic pain? When there is an injury, there is an “oxidative burst” that creates free radicals. The free electrons that are stored in our bodies for “inflammatory preparedness” migrate to the injury site and bond to the free radicals. This process decreases the effects of inflammation.  With chronic pain, it is like a continuous injury. Going barefoot increases the number of free electrons available for reducing inflammaton. The same effect seems to come from hands-on therapies like Massage, Neuromuscular Therapy and Energy Healing.

So have a fling, walk on the beach, wiggle your toes in the dirt, lie on the grass and gaze at the sky, contact mother earth and see what happens!

Information is taken from The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, Vol 13, #3, July 2009 ISSN 1360-8592, pp 215-216-227. The web address is <http://www.elsevier.com/jbmt>.