- The roots of Neural Therapy can be traced to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the discovery of local anesthetics and their effects on the nervous system.
- In 1905, German chemist Alfred Einhorn developed procaine (Novocain), a synthetic local anesthetic that became widely used in medicine. Physicians soon observed that injections of local anesthetics occasionally produced effects beyond temporary pain relief.
- During the 1920s and 1930s, German physicians began exploring the broader physiological effects of local anesthetics. French surgeon René Leriche used injections around the sympathetic nervous system to treat pain and circulatory disorders, helping establish the concept that the autonomic nervous system plays an important role in chronic disease and pain.
- The development of modern Neural Therapy is most closely associated with German physicians Ferdinand and Walter Huneke. In 1925, Ferdinand Huneke observed that an intravenous injection of procaine unexpectedly relieved a patient's chronic migraine. Over the following years, the Huneke brothers investigated similar observations and developed the concept of treating chronic illness through targeted local anesthetic injections.
- In 1940, Ferdinand Huneke reported a case in which injecting a painful scar on a patient's leg resulted in the immediate resolution of chronic shoulder pain. This observation led to the concept of the "interference field"—an area of previous injury, surgery, infection, or inflammation that may continue to influence other parts of the body through the nervous system.
- Throughout the mid-20th century, Neural Therapy became increasingly established in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Physicians in these countries developed diagnostic and treatment protocols focused on the autonomic nervous system, scars, dental health, ganglia, and other potential sources of abnormal neurological signaling.
It is a safe medicine and has been used at renowned anti-aging clinics, such as Dr. Ana Aslan’s in Romania, where she treated Bob Hope, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, and others.
- Today, Neural Therapy continues to be practiced all over the world. It is used by physicians trained in the technique as part of an integrative approach to the evaluation and treatment of chronic pain, autonomic dysfunction, and certain chronic medical conditions.