» Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy / Sclerotherapy
Joint Pain and Instability Injections
Recurrent neck, low back or limb pain?
Are you suffering from chronic and or repeated, neck, back and limb pain? Do you return frequently for therapy because of recurrent pain or something keeps going out? Have you had manual therapies by osteopaths, chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists only to obtain temporary relief’? Have exercise, traction, therapeutic contraptions, cortisone injections and oral drugs not faired much better’?
These therapies all proven to be effective under many circumstances may be frustrating under others. One common possible cause is that of ligament instability. Ligaments are fibrous rope like supportive tissues that keep the bones of our body attached to one another and joints intact. Ligaments differ from muscles in that muscles are primarily used for moving bones. Muscles, however, may be also used to assist in part time support. Muscles attach to bone via tendons, which contain fibrous tissue similar to ligaments. If lax or damaged ligaments do not give stability that is needed, pain, inflammation, joint damage, and deformities may ensue. Muscles go into spasm as a protective mechanism to give support at the price of stiffness and pain. Ligamentous laxity occurs as a result of loss of volume of bone, joint deformity and shrinking spinal discs. Ligamentous laxity also occurs with partial ligamentous tears (sprains).
Hands-on therapy provided by osteopathic, chiropractic, physical and massage therapists generally focus on addressing mobility. Muscle strength is promoted by exercise. Ligaments heal slowly compared to other tissues due in part to a relatively poor blood supply. Various may be used to stimulate healing including electro-magnetics, ultrasound, heat, cold, infrared, and nutritional supplementation. Often the results are incomplete.
Surgery stabilizes joints, however, outcomes prove to be worse than the original condition. Braces give support while the body’s own supportive tissues wither from lack of use. Cortisone injections may relieve pain and irritation relatively quickly. However, recurrent cortisone injections for chronic conditions accelerate deterioration of the supportive tissues leading to further disability. Can ligaments be repaired permanently without surgery? Is there a safe injection that could be given without going to the hospital?
Becoming more popular with conventional doctors is an effective method of stimulating the body to fortify ligaments. This method involves tricking the body by injecting small drops of an irritant where the ligaments attach to bone. The irritation initiates a restorative process whereby fibrous tissue is incorporated into the ligament making it thicker an stronger. As support is restored, pain disappears. Such injections do not go into major nerves, nor blood vessels, nor bone and have an excellent safety record. One popular nutritional irritant that is injected is concentrated sugar (dextrose) with anesthetic, which causes temporary inflammation as it dissipates harmlessly to be metabolized by the body. A few drops are deposited at each site treated. By contrast, cortisone while bringing relief of inflammation tends to cause degeneration rather then regeneration of the joints and supporting structures.
Therapy is given in the doctor’s office at weekly intervals approximately 5 to 10 times. In applicable cases, it is effective 90% of the time. Often pain radiating down limbs disappears. Orthopedic surgery is often avoided. Pain may even be relieved following unsuccessful surgery. The necessity for recurrent visits for non-surgical therapeutics is often eliminated. Instability, weakness and pain associated with tendons may also be addressed in a similar fashion. This relatively unknown therapy is known by various names (sclerotherapy, prolotherapy and joint reconstructive therapy.) It has been in use for several decades. Insurance companies may or not pay for it despite and excellent safety and success record. Medicare does not This therapy will be part of standard medicine of the future as it is being integrated into mainstream medicine today. |
