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松井孝嘉博士

Official website of Takayoshi Matsui, MD & PhD (Dr. Stiff Neck)

Dr. Matsui has made it possible to identify and treat unexplained physical discomfort (vague symptoms/autonomic nervous system abnormalities) that could not be cured anywhere in the world until now.

Official website of Takayoshi Matsui, MD & PhD

首こり博士松井孝嘉プロデュース ネックウォーマー

Patient Testimonials

We have contributed to the treatment of "cervical neuromuscular syndrome (stiff neck or neck muscle syndrome)," a symptom caused by abnormalities in the autonomic nervous system.
Please see below for the process of complete recovery of patients who suffered from symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, autonomic nervous system imbalance, chronic fatigue, whiplash, and depression, as well as the testimonials of grateful patients.

✹About reading the testimonials

The medical questionnaire and neck muscle checkpoints are explained at the bottom of this page.

List of testimonials (cases)
- Lists

No. Symptoms Age:Gender Number of points※ Number of checks※
87 A case in which the patient was constantly wearing a heavy helmet while working at a factory, and developed headache, nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain, and numbness in her hands. 38:male 21
86 A case in which a patient had previously been hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital multiple times for depression, but did not improve with medication, and visited Matsui Hospital's outpatient clinic, where her symptoms were completely improved with electrical treatment to the neck. 47:female 27
85 A case where a salesperson from a pharmaceutical company visited Matsui Hospital to explain about a drug, and the doctor told her that she must have had headaches for a long time. After receiving treatment for his neck, his long-standing headaches were completely cured. 26:female 22
84 From the time he was in his second year of high school, he started to suffer from morning dizziness, headaches, and insomnia. After visiting several pediatricians, he was admitted to Matsui Hospital, where he underwent electrical neck treatment, and his symptoms improved dramatically in a short period of time. 16:male 12
83 Due to the deterioration of relationships at school, her health deteriorated and her day and night cycle was reversed. After visiting various hospitals for about three years, she was admitted to Matsui Hospital and her condition improved dramatically within two weeks 13:female 21
82 Cases and records, patient testimonials / Since the winter of my first year of junior high school, I have struggled with symptoms such as inability to wake up in the morning, headaches, stomach aches, general fatigue, and insomnia, but after being admitted to Matsui Hospital, my symptoms have improved without medication. 16:female 20
81 A miracle happened to my son, who had endured poor health for the long period of three years during his junior high school years. Junior high school student:male 13

<Medical Questionnaire>

This is a checklist of symptoms (subjective symptoms) commonly seen in patients with stiff neck.
There are 30 questions in total, and you will be asked to do a self-check.

 Number of checks     Status     Need for treatment    
4 or less Normal None
5 to 10 Mild Treatment required
11 to 17 Moderate Treatment required
10 or more Severe Treatment required
<Neck muscle checkpoints>

These are checkpoints for doctors to use when palpating (objective abnormal findings). When we first started treating stiff neck, there were 11 checkpoints, but now there are more detailed checkpoints, with 36.

Has it really become possible to cure diseases that could not be cured in any hospital in the world until now, in other words, diseases that "cause a single patient to present with a variety of symptoms, and each symptom is treated by multiple medical departments, so in the end no treatment could be found"
That's right. It has become possible to completely cure illnesses of unknown causes in which a single patient experiences symptoms from multiple medical departments, including ophthalmology, otolaryngology, cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, neurology, and psychiatry (psychosomatic medicine). Patients living not only in Japan, but also in France, the UK, the US, Canada, Norway, Mexico, Taiwan, and China, who have visited all the hospitals and medical departments in their own countries but have not been cured, come to Japan to receive treatment.
And everyone's symptoms were cured through treatment of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the cause of autonomic nervous system disorders, and they returned home.

We do not provide any information specifically for foreign patients, so we do not know how these patients found out about this treatment.
In the future, if wearable translation devices (such as Pocketalk) become more advanced, we would like to actively accept patients who do not understand Japanese. At the moment, we are struggling with staff numbers, so we are only accepting reservations from people who understand Japanese or who are coming with an interpreter.
What is the name of this new disease?
Cervical neuromuscular syndrome (abbreviated as cervical muscle syndrome or stiff neck disease) is a neurological disorder caused by abnormalities in the parasympathetic nervous system. Because the parasympathetic nervous system controls every part of the body, the symptoms are diverse, and symptoms appear in almost all medical departments at general hospitals.
What are the symptoms of cervical neuromuscular syndrome?
Unexplained general fatigue, lethargy, headache, chronic fatigue, depression, panic disorder, autonomic nervous system disorder, unstable blood pressure, difficulty swallowing, nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pain/discomfort, prone to diarrhea/constipation, hyperhidrosis, palpitations, insomnia, dry eyes, dry mouth, eye fatigue, sore eyes, difficulty seeing, sensitivity to light, hot flashes, low-grade fever of unknown cause, depressed mood, loss of interest/joy, loss of energy, no desire to do anything, decreased concentration, decreased memory, decreased judgment, decreased thinking ability, suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts, etc.
You may also sweat too much or not at all, your face may turn red and you may feel sick when you enter a warm room, or you may not be able to stay in a cold place. You may feel lightheaded, as if you are walking on clouds or on a boat. When these symptoms are severe, you may be able to predict what the weather will be like tomorrow. Some people are prone to catching colds, or have cold-like symptoms all the time. You may also experience numbness in your hands and feet, and chest pressure or pain.
What is cervical neuromuscular syndrome?
The English name is Cervical Neuro Muscular Syndrome (CNMS). As mentioned above, symptoms appear in ophthalmology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, circulatory system, orthopedics, neurosurgery, neurology, and psychiatry (psychosomatic medicine). When it becomes severe, symptoms appear in all of these medical departments. Patients often say that they don't know which department to visit even when they go to a general hospital.
Even if you visit one of those departments, if you have 5 or 10 times more symptoms outside the doctor's specialty, the doctor in charge will not know what to do and will just prescribe any medicine and send you away. After that, because it doesn't get better, you will visit other hospitals and other medical departments, and the hospital rounds and doctor shopping will begin. Many of my patients have visited more than 50 hospitals. I can't count the number of people who have visited 20 or 30 hospitals.
Most patients from abroad say that they have visited every hospital in their home countries but have not been cured, so they have come all the way to Japan.
So what about visiting a general practitioner?
Currently, some university hospitals and other institutions have departments of general medicine, but it is fair to say that there are currently no departments that specialize in cervical neuromuscular syndrome.
You discovered that abnormalities in the neck muscles cause abnormalities in the parasympathetic nervous system (autonomic nervous system), which then causes abnormalities in various parts of the body. I heard you were the first person in the world to discover this.
Until now, it was common knowledge in medicine that abnormalities in the neck muscles would only cause symptoms such as pain and stiffness in the neck muscles, with no other neurological symptoms. However, we have discovered that when abnormalities occur in certain muscles in the neck, the parasympathetic nervous system of the autonomic nervous system can stop working. The condition that produces these neurological symptoms is called cervical neuromuscular syndrome.
We discovered this in 1978 while researching whiplash. Indeed, no one in the world had noticed this until now.
What mechanism does the neck muscle use to cause parasympathetic nervous system abnormalities?
Research is currently ongoing and no conclusions have been reached yet, but when examination reveals abnormalities in certain parts of the neck muscles, abnormalities in the parasympathetic nervous system are found. As these are treated and the muscle abnormalities disappear, the symptoms disappear one after another. There are many actual case studies, so it can be said that clinically, there is no doubt that abnormalities in certain muscles of the neck cause parasympathetic nervous system abnormalities.
The parasympathetic nervous system, along with the peripheral nerves, is spread throughout the body, so an abnormality in the parasympathetic nervous system can cause problems throughout the body. Our research paper on this subject has been published in a world-renowned academic journal overseas.

In short, if we consider that the original cause is a decrease in the function of the nerves that pass through the neck (vagus nerve, phrenic nerve, greater occipital nerve, brachial plexus), everything can be explained clearly.
How is cervical neuromuscular syndrome diagnosed?
Currently, examinations of the neck muscles are mainly performed by palpation and diagnostic imaging. 34 points on the neck are palpated to check for tenderness and hardness. Patients are surprised that when the palpation is performed for the first time, they jump in pain, but the pain disappears as treatment progresses. As the pain disappears, the symptoms also become milder and disappear. I also use diagnostic imaging, which is the technique I have the longest experience with in the world, to make a diagnosis.
Is it true that discovering this treatment could reduce huge medical costs?
According to our rough estimates from a few years ago, this would reduce medical expenses by more than 11 trillion yen per year. The figure would likely be even greater now.
The current situation is that patients visit various hospitals and clinics without any hope of treatment, and each time the tests are redone from scratch, resulting in a huge amount of money being wasted on just one patient. I know this very well from my patients who have visited me. I feel very sorry that such unnecessary medical expenses are being ignored, and that even though most of the autonomic nerve tests necessary for our treatment are covered by insurance, the fees for the tests are being cut, and approximately 90% of them are not being paid.
There is a big problem with the current medical insurance payment system. Even if payment is refused, we continue to provide free testing and completely relieve patients from illness. Before treatment, depression caused by abnormalities in the neck muscles often left patients near bedridden. Even seriously ill patients on the verge of suicide have been completely cured to the point where they can smile and say they have been reborn.
What kind of symptoms and progression do patients suffer from, and how are they cured?
What is clear is that there are testimonials and letters written by the patients themselves, so please read them. You will understand how each patient's symptoms improved.

Profile of Dr. Takayoshi Matsui

Dr.コーマックと松井博士と長男 雅樹

Dr. Cormack and Dr. Matsui 1979

Dr. Takayoshi Matsui was the youngest researcher on the team developing the world's first whole-body CT scanner at Georgetown University in the United States.

This development was recognized by the Nobel Prize Committee, and the head of the team, Dr. Allan Cormack, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The greatest benefit of CT was that it made it possible to distinguish 100% between cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction in strokes. Until then, even the most skilled doctors were unable to make a diagnosis, and the only thing they could do for stroke patients was to leave them lying there without moving them.

デッドボールの実験をする松井博士

Dr. Matsui (far right) conducts an experiment on dead balls (for head injuries) with the cooperation of the Giants, a Japanese professional baseball team. This experiment led to the development of baseball helmets with ears, which eliminated fatal accidents caused by dead balls.

At the time, stroke was the leading cause of death in Japan, and this condition had been continuing for a long time. Dr. Matsui thought that in order to be able to diagnose a stroke within 30 minutes of a stroke, 10,000 CT scanners were needed in Japan.

At that time, a CT scanner cost about 300 million yen, but what was needed was a simple device that could perform only routine examinations, not a device with a wide range of functions. Since all he needed was a scanner that could "diagnose stroke," he instructed the CT scanner manufacturer to create a scanner that cost less than 30 million yen.

He was directing development at GE (Yokogawa) and Shimadzu, and all the companies were pessimistic that it would be impossible to sell more than 100 units across Japan, but Dr. Matsui persuaded each company by saying, "If we develop a CT scanner that costs less than 30 million yen, there will be a market for 10,000 units across Japan," and made this a reality.

As a result, the market quickly reached 10,000 units. The market then quickly surpassed the 20,000 unit mark. This was because each company followed Dr. Matsui's ideas and a price war ensued for CT scanners, dropping the price from 25 million yen to 15 million yen, and finally to 10 million yen.

As a result, in Japan, even if a patient collapses due to a stroke, they can be diagnosed immediately, and if they collapse, they can be transported to a hospital with a CT scanner, and if it is a cerebral hemorrhage, they can be saved by surgery, and if it is a cerebral infarction, they can be treated by dissolving the blood clot. As a result, stroke has dropped from the first place to the second place to the third place cause of death in Japan.

Japan has become a CT superpower, with more than 20 times as many CT scanners as the next-largest country. Treatment for hemorrhage and infarction are completely opposite, so misdiagnosis and treatment can be disastrous. Before the CT scanner was available, the common knowledge about stroke was that "you should not move the patient from the place where he collapsed due to a stroke" and "let him lie there."

On May 19, 1975, former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato collapsed from a stroke at the Tsukiji restaurant Shinkiraku. He was examined by Japan's top internist, Professor Shigeo Okinaka of the University of Tokyo, but as it was unclear whether he had suffered a hemorrhage or a stroke, he was not moved and was left lying down in the restaurant rather than being transferred to the University of Tokyo Hospital.

Early days of CT scanners

In America, almost all hospitals that introduced CT scans encountered the unbelievable problem of no lesions being found at the site of craniotomy, and this led Dr. Matsui to realize that there was a need for a book of anatomical atlases specifically designed for CT scans.

He sliced brains and created an anatomical atlas for CT scans at Albert Einstein University and Montefiore Hospital in New York, where he had worked before attending Georgetown University.

This was released in three places: Stuttgart, Germany, New York, and Tokyo, and became an international bestseller, becoming the first medical book to win the International Publishing Culture Award.

Atlas published by Gustav-Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart
Atlas published by IGAKU-SHOIN, New York
Atlas published by Igaku Shoin, Tokyo

He returned to Japan in 1977 as an associate Professor at Teikyo University's Department of Neurosurgery, and while working on a number of research projects, he discovered that the diverse symptoms of whiplash are caused by muscle abnormalities that lead to parasympathetic nervous system abnormalities, resulting in mysterious symptoms throughout the body.

It took a long time to find a treatment for this, and after much trial and error, he finally perfected it in 2005.

This is not limited to whiplash, but it has also been found that similar symptoms can occur with head trauma and overuse of the neck muscles. Recently, this syndrome has been increasing rapidly due to overuse of computers and smartphones. In addition, people with poor posture or weak neck muscles can develop this syndrome even without any cause.

Dr. Matsui, in consultation with his mentor, Professor Keiji Sano, named this syndrome "cervical neuromuscular syndrome."

I would like to ask you about your basic thoughts on medical care.
First of all, in medicine, there are diseases that require immediate medical attention. Typical of these are blood vessels in the brain and heart, namely stroke and ischemic heart disease (myocardial infarction and angina pectoris). Stroke is a major pillar of my specialty, neurosurgery, and my idea led to the development of CT scanners, which have enabled immediate diagnosis anywhere in Japan and significantly reduced the mortality rate.
However, we have not yet reached the point where people with heart conditions can live without worry no matter where they are in Japan. The situation is particularly difficult in rural areas. I am always thinking about what we must do to improve this. There are no technical problems and the level is improving, but the number of specialists and hospitals is a major administrative problem.

I am currently dealing with an incurable disease called Cervical Neuromuscular Syndrome, which no hospital has been able to cure, and it is unfortunate that I am not able to do anything else.

There are many problems in the medical field that are being neglected. For diseases that are not urgent, such as cancer, medical information is now easily accessible, and patients and their families can consider various options and choose a doctor or hospital after they are satisfied with the results. However, for diseases that require urgent treatment, the medical administration must be particularly strong. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the medical administration of each prefecture must create an environment in which people can live with peace of mind, no matter where they are in Japan, but we have to say that the current medical administration is insufficient.

松井孝嘉プロフィール

1967
Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo
1968
Joined the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Tokyo (Chief: Dr. Keiji Sano)
1973
Researched brain tumors and cerebrovascular disorders at Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
1974
Worked on the development of the world's first whole-body CT scanner at Georgetown University in Washington
1977
Returned to Japan and became an associate professor of neurosurgery at Teikyo University
1978
He was the first in the world to discover that abnormalities in the neck muscles are accompanied by abnormalities in the parasympathetic nervous system, and subsequently engaged in research into the development of treatment methods. He also used his experience in developing whole-body CT scans in the United States to provide guidance to four domestic CT scanner manufacturers. He was awarded a PhD in Medicine from the University of Tokyo for his international best-selling book, "An Atlas of the Human Brain for Computerized Tomography." This book was the first medical book to receive the International Publishing Culture Award.
1980
Since the end of the war, strokes have been the number one cause of death in Japan every year.
Before the advent of CT scans, it was impossible to distinguish between cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction, so if a person collapsed, they should not be moved from the spot. At the time, CT scanners cost 200-300 million yen, so each manufacturer was pessimistic, thinking that it would be impossible to produce more than 50-60 units in Japan. If a stroke cannot be diagnosed within 30 minutes of onset, the patient will die, but even if the patient is saved, they will be left with serious after-effects and will become useless. They calculated how many CT scanners would be needed to be able to diagnose immediately no matter where the patient collapsed in Japan. As a result, they found that 10,000 units were needed.
He instructed the four development companies that a CT scanner capable of diagnosing strokes could be made for less than 30 million yen if all unnecessary functions were removed, and that if they made it, there would be a market for 10,000 units in Japan. Toshiba developed the CT scanner exactly as instructed. This CT scanner became the starting point for subsequent CT development.
As Dr. Matsui predicted, sales quickly surpassed the 10,000 unit mark and further reached 25,000 units. Thanks to the doctor's idea, Japan became by far the world's leading CT power, quickly realizing the global dream of being able to make a diagnosis anywhere in Japan within 30 minutes, and dramatically reducing stroke deaths. Toshiba became the world leader in CT scanners.
1983
Becomes associate professor of neurosurgery at Osaka Medical College and visiting professor at Teikyo University. 1988: Coinciding with the opening of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, Matsui Neurosurgery Hospital is built in Kanonji City, Kagawa Prefecture, near the foot of the bridge (now Blue Sky Matsui Hospital, of which he is chairman).
2005
He perfected the treatment for abnormalities in the neck muscles, naming this new disease "cervical neuromuscular syndrome" and establishing the world's first treatment for autonomic nervous system imbalance. Patients from all prefectures in Japan, as well as from hospitals in Europe and the United States, such as Paris, London, New York, and Amsterdam, who could not be cured in their own countries, have been treated at Matsui Hospital and have been completely cured.
2006
He opened the Tokyo Neurological Center in Tokyo and became its chairman. Eleven graduates of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Medicine have been providing specialized treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, orthostatic dysregulation (OD), autonomic depression, dry eyes, dry mouth, headaches, cervical dizziness, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, and other illnesses that could not be cured at any other hospital until now, and have completely cured each illness.
2020
Japan has become the world's leading country in CT scans, and it is said that one of the reasons why there are few deaths from COVID-19 among Japanese people is that it is cheap and easy to get a diagnosis at the very early stage of pneumonia no matter where you live.
2021
He has published 30 books, and in recognition of his achievements, he became a member of the Japan Pen Club
(recommended by Professor Takeshi Yoroi)