What is the NeuFit Neubie Machine?
You’ve seen us providing medical grade fitness and rehabilitation in South Austin using the NeuFit Neubie, an electrical stimulation machine. But what is it? Here are 10 of the most common questions answered.
What is the NeuFit Neubie, and how does it work?
The Neubie is a direct current electrical stimulation machine cleared by the FDA for the following uses:
Maintaining or increasing range of motion
Increasing local blood circulation
Neuromuscular Reeducation – enhancement of muscle recruitment and activation of the individual being treated (hint: this is what we do with our medical grade fitness training)
Preventing muscle atrophy
Reducing muscle spasms
Preventing venous thrombosis after surgery
Management or relief of chronic pain and management of post-surgical and post-traumatic acute pain
That’s quite a lot! It’s the only direct current e-stim device that has this many clearances.
What are the primary benefits of using the Neubie machine for rehabilitation?
So many of the rehabilitation plateaus happen on a nervous system level. Let me explain. When you sustain an injury, the tissues themselves have their own timetable on which they recover. But once the nervous system experiences the injury, it can put the brakes on using that area of the body for months or even years after the physical issue has already healed. And if you try to use that area of the body that’s been healed, you’ll be “rewarded” with pain or a fear of pain. This is no way to live!
Using the Neubie, we’re able to send an identical current into the area that the brain would send, but on a level of about 4 times as strong. When the brain feels this stimulation and “sees” the injured area moving around, it rewires to allow access to those areas again. Your brain takes its foot off the brake, essentially.
This can quickly, and in many cases permanently, alleviate chronic pain.
How does the Neubie machine aid in pain management?
The difference is in the type of electricity delivery. AC/DC is not only one of the most iconic rock bands ever, but it’s also the name of the two types of electrical current. Alternating current, or AC, involves sending charges to individual electrodes in an alternating sequence. It’s like driving with your foot moving from gas to brake. You might get where you’re trying to go, but it’s very inefficient and takes a lot of effort.
The Neubie uses direct current, or DC. Signals are generated in the machine and then transmitted to the electrodes all at the same time. Our own nervous system is a direct current system as well!
Can you use the Neubie for athletic performance? And how?
The short answer - yes! The Neubie is able to use electrical stimulation to load the muscles heavy as if they were lifting heavy weights without exposing the joints to heavy weights. So using 15lb dumbbells on the bench press will feel like 15lbs on your joints, but as much as 50lbs on your muscles! This causes increased fatigue on the muscle fibers, which results in more muscle fibers being grown.
In terms of strength training, let’s consider strength to be a neurological skill of recruiting muscles to lift the most weight possible. You’ve heard of someone being "the strongest pound for pound” but how is that possible? If all muscle is the same, how are some people so much stronger than others? It comes down to neurology. Somebody with a stronger mind muscle connection will be able to activate more muscle fibers. Strength is a neurological skill and the stronger person simply has a stronger nervous system.
How does the Neubie machine integrate into a rehabilitative program?
In so many ways! For orthopedic pain, we can do the diagnostic scan to find out exactly what muscles are not turned on. We can then turn them on and teach them how to move properly, which improves the range of motion and decreases pain. Often permanently in the first session.
For chronic neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, we can leverage the power of our brain's own neuroplasticity - that is, It's ability to rewire and remodel. For example, in multiple sclerosis the protective sheathing around the nerves is eaten away and the nerves become less conductive, causing the muscles to become inactive. But not every nerve is affected in the area. With the Neubie machine, we can rewire the brain to activate those nerves in the surrounding area to move the muscle we're trying to move.
What are the potential side effects or contraindications of the Neubie machine?
The two primary contraindications are if the client is pregnant or has a pacemaker. However, there's never been any published studies to our knowledge to suggest that TENS units cause harm to pregnant people; it's only out of an abundance of caution that we listed as a contraindication. For those clients with pacemakers, there are devices you can place on top of the skin which can protect the pacemaker from electrical signals. If you are a client with a pacemaker and want to see if electrical stimulation therapy is right for you, talk to your doctor about whether one of these devices is appropriate. If you are pregnant or have a pacemaker, we would love to work with you still! We can take the same workouts and do them without the Neubie.
There are a couple precautions against using the machine. The first is if you have an active cancer diagnosis. However, I've personally spoken with well-respected oncologists who don't think there's any risk of using the Neubie machine with somebody that has cancer. The precaution is based off of the thought that since the Neubie is cleared by the FDA to improve blood flow, perhaps that improve blood flow might allow cancer cells to proliferate. But the improved blood flow wouldn't be anything more than what normal exercise can provide, and no doctor would advise you stop exercising if you have cancer.
The other precaution is if somebody has blood clots. This precaution is based on the idea that the increased blood flow might cause the clot to dislodge which could make its way into the heart or brain. However, again, the increased blood flow of using the Neubie is not more than what you might achieve during exercise. If you are somebody that has cancer or blood clots, we recommend checking in with your doctor to make sure you are cleared for exercise or embarking on a rehabilitation program.
How do clients typically respond to treatment with the Neubie machine?
For personal training clients receiving our brand of medical grade fitness using the Neubie, we typically see .75 to 1.5 lb of muscle gain on female clients every month. Somewhere around 2.0 to 3.0 lb of muscle gain on male clients every month. They also report improved heart rate variability (your nervous system’s score of overall health) and a better resting heart rate at night.
For rehabilitative clients coming in for chronic pain, we like to think we can get you 60 to 80% better in the first 10 sessions. I'm always upfront with clients and I say if I can't get you 80% better in 10 sessions, I'm not the right practitioner for you AND I'll help you find the next right person to help you. My goal is to get you out of pain and get you stronger.
Story time…
I recently had a client in his seventies who came to me with chronic back pain after a knee replacement almost 30 years ago. After our 8th session, he told me it was the first time he was pain-free in 30 years. After our 10th session, we already made a pretty good progress on his back and knee pain, he's able to squat to full depth without pain anywhere and could exercise, but just didn't have an interest in exercising. It was then we discharged him and wished him well. He thanked us with many referrals over the last year, noting especially how we weren't trying to continue to milk him for additional sessions.
For complex neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, we can expect slower progress. There are a few factors that play in how long we expect progress to take. If the person is generally younger and has been active, we expect that neuroplastic ability of the brain to remodel and rewire to happen quicker. Especially if the diagnosis is only a few years old. One client in particular who has a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in her 40s enjoyed additional strength and balance by the 20th session, she was able to start to feel some of the knee again by the time we hit the 30th session. This is just from working with her once a week. The sensation in that knee has improved further still as we go into our 40th sessions.
For those in their golden years who have been confined to walkers and wheelchairs for a couple decades, it's going to be a little bit slower. You're going to feel improvements in strength and range of motion, to be sure, but it won't happen as fast as the first example. However, I know of two such clients from the Neufit headquarters clinic, one of which was in a wheelchair for 25 years, who have been able to walk again after severe injuries and MS.
In very rare cases, we have not been able to help some people with their chronic neurological conditions. Depending on the diagnosis, some clients require a longer lead time using lower intensity therapies like PEMF before the body is in a more stable state to tolerate exercise. Moving from rehabilitation to medical grade fitness too soon could cause a relapse of those pain symptoms and take us back to square one. Part of what I think we do really well is meeting somebody where they are, establishing realistic goals, and then setting conservative milestones along the way to help them achieve those goals and the recovery. We love being challenged by things that frustrate and vex other practitioners. That's why we chose working with something as the brain and nervous system to improve people's health!
I'm in physical therapy. How can we work together?
We love collaborating with physical therapists, chiropractors, and others who serve your health. We know that while we are the experts in what we do, they are the experts in what they do and you will benefit from both of our input. We collaborate, not compete, with other practitioners because it's for your benefit. We can provide you with a HIPAA authorization form that would allow us to speak to your provider and get a better understanding of the do's and don'ts of our experience together in the gym.
If you're under the care of another practitioner now, we want to do everything we can to support that Improvement. What we're not going to do is act like we know better!
What's the process for a patient or athlete starting treatment with the Neubie?
For most clients, we begin with the diagnostic scan to locate any hot spots where we are missing some neurological activation. This gets the body into a more stable state to tolerate exercise. For those very new to the gym experience, we love to start with the basics. The basics never go out of style. We're talking primarily about the versions of squat, pressing, and lifting weight off the ground. Each of these exercises uses many different muscles at the same time, making them what we call compound exercises, which allows us to train the body more fully in a short amount of time.
Before chronic pain or neurological cases, we like to go through a lengthy intake and begin with any combination of PEMF, light therapy, microcurrent, and if that's tolerated well we up the ante to use the Neubie.
A big part of what we believe here at Innervation is that the mind and brain hold the keys to our wellness in many ways. We use these non-invasive technologies like PEMF to stimulate the parts of the brain to help us regulate emotion, improve motor control function, and as I have said before get the brain in a nice stable state to tolerate exercise. If not for exercise, to at least help you achieve pain free or “fear of pain free” movements in your everyday life. We want you to forget about ever having been in pain or not being able to do things because you are afraid of getting hurt doing them.
How can clients get started?
The best way is to book a session! The cost of a session decreases when you buy them in larger packages. The full menu of session package options is on our booking page. During the booking process, you'll be asked to fill out a preliminary intake where we get to know some of your goals or reasons for coming in. This helps us shorten the conversation in person and get to work right away.
There is also a nominal cost of gym membership to work with us at Iron Vault Gym. The membership there is $70 per month plus tax, or $10 per drop in. If you are going to come into the gym more than once a week to work with us, or to come in on your own, it makes sense to get the membership. If you just want to come in once a week to work with us, the drop-ins are a better option.
We also provide you with workout programming through an app called TrainHeroic. This is done at no cost to you.
Other than that, the real cost is your sweat equity! What you put into this experience, you're going to get out exponentially if we use the Neubie.
If I want to buy a Neubie machine of my own, what do they cost and how do I get started?
Through my agreement with NeuFit as an independent sales representative, I'm not allowed to post the price of the device on my website. They may be running specials that could save you money, which I would have access to on your behalf. However, I would welcome you to send me an email and we can start a conversation! The price is different whether you are a personal user so you can use it on yourself and close family or if you are a professional user like a physical therapist or a trainer.
I worked for the company for just over 3 years, about half of that in the sales department, so I would be well versed in helping walk you through the sales and onboarding process. I can also provide ongoing support for you as needed, whether that's in protocols, device questions, or anything else you might need.