Do you suffer from the pain of osteoarthritis, sports injury, and other joint problems?
Did your doctors tell you? “There is nothing more we can do except manage your pain. You have to learn to live with your pain.” If they did, they may be wrong.
With some forms of chronic pain, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and neuropathic pain, to “manage” may be the best medicine can do until modern science brings new insights to its cure. But, not so for most types of muscle and joint pain. George Stuart Hackett, MD, demonstrated a cure for most forms of musculoskeletal pain sixty years ago.
Redefining the Cause of Chronic Pain
Dr. Hackett redefined the cause of most forms of chronic pain. He discovered that most musculoskeletal pain is due to ligament and/or tendon injury that over time leads to loose ligaments and unstable joints… causing pain.
Ligaments connect bones to bones. These mighty but small body tissues act somewhat like rubber bands, holding the bones together with just the right tension. They prevent over-extension of bones and joints.
Tendons connect muscles to bones. Similar to ligaments, tendons enable movement of joints.
Ligaments and tendons naturally have a poor blood supply so they’re prone to slow or incomplete healing after injury.
Hackett built on the work of others to develop a treatment—prolotherapy—to stimulate or restart the body’s own healing of these tissues. Since that time, his methods have helped cure thousands of people with chronic pain. Yet, despite these peoples’ report of pain relief, and research studies showing actual growth of related tendons, ligaments, and cartilage, it is still not widely used within mainstream medicine.
A leading researcher K. Dean Reeves MD, FAAPM&R;, clinical associate professor, University of Kansas, informs, “In patients with many years of chronic pain, a reasonable estimate from the prolotherapy literature is substantial or complete elimination of pain and functional limitation in 80 percent of patients. Traditional medical training overlooks the importance of ligaments, tendons and fascia (layers or sheaths over muscles or other structures) and the small nerves that penetrate fascia and instead overemphasizes use of pharmaceuticals, surgery, or psychological labeling of patients.”
How Prolotherapy Works
Prolotherapy, also called regeneration injection therapy (RIT), stimulates your own natural healing to restore the health of injured tissues that are causing pain.
Both names refer to how this therapy works. “Prolo,” for proliferate, means “to grow,” and “regeneration” means “to renew.” Prolotherapy grows or renews your body’s tissues.
It is given in a series of injections of a sterile solution like dextrose water (sugar water) along with an anesthetic such as lidocaine into the injured (most painful) area. This causes a local inflammation (the first stage of your healing process), which increases the blood supply to the area. This nourishing flow of blood carries nutrients, healing immune cells, and growth factors that help the injured area repair. Once this localized inflammation is stimulated, your body’s own healing process takes over naturally.
Often the person experiences pain relief within a few minutes of the injection. The pain relief continues as the treated and now healing joints begin to stabilize, although, there may be some initial soreness.
There is usually follow-up at four to six weeks (the natural ligament healing period) to assess results and need of more treatments. The whole process usually takes 4 to 6 treatments depending on the nature of the injury.
Prolotherapy Benefits
It helps cure many painful chronic conditions including:
• Arthritis Pain
• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Knee Pain
• Sports Injuries
• Migraines
• Sciatica
• Loose Joints
• Lumbar Pain
• Herniated Discs
• TMJ Syndrome
• Whiplash Injuries
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Tendonitis
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Shoulder (rotator cuff) pain
• Pregnancy Back Pain
• Tennis Elbow
• Meniscal Tear
Prolotherapy Research Results
There have been numerous research studies documenting its benefits.
In 1955, Dr Hackett reported on animal research. He found that treated tendons increased in diameter by 40 percent. There was also increase of bone growth at the injection site.
K. Dean Reeves, MD, administers the Research in Prolotherapy website. It provides up-to-date tracking and review of research.
A click on the “Research” tab on this site will take you to “Peer Reviewed Medline/PubMed Literature [services of the U.S. National Library of Medicine].” Here you can review research categorized by area of the body (shoulder, knee, etc.) or type of study (randomized controlled, consecutive patient, etc.).
Here is a small sampling of these studies retrieved on May 29, 2009 by area of the body.
Elbow
M. Scarpone, MD reported in the May 2008 Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine on study results of treatment for tennis elbow. Those receiving prolotherapy reported significant improvement in extension strength, grip strength, and reduced elbow pain. Pain level improved 91 percent in the treatment group compared to 35 percent in the control group.
Groin-Pelvis
G. A. Topol reported in the 2008 American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation on regenerative injection therapy of 72 elite athletes with career-altering chronic groin pain who failed conservative treatment. Pain improved by 82 percent in all but 6 athletes. The remaining 66 returned to unrestricted sport. “Conclusion: Athletes returned to full elite-level performance in a timely and sustainable manner after regeneration injection therapy…”
Knee
K. Dean Reeves reported in the March 2000 Alternative Therapies on a study of 111 knees with advanced osteoarthritis (average of 8 years of pain). Those treated with prolotherapy experienced significant improvement: pain improved (44 percent decrease), swelling improved (63 percent decrease), knee buckling decreased (85 percent) and increase in flexion (bending) by 14 degrees as compared with study entry. X-rays also showed stability with statistically significant improvement in knee cartilage thickness and upper leg bone width (at knee joint).
You can learn more about this therapy and how you can help yourself heal by clicking on this link and ordering The Cure for Chronic Pain: End The Pain of Arthritis, Sports Injury, and Other Joints Problems.
Prolotherapy is a cure for most types of muscle and joint pain. You very likely do not have to live in chronic pain!
Sources
“Research in Prolotherapy,” administered by K. Dean Reeves, MD at http://www.researchinprolotherapy.com.
Nancy S. Moore, The Cure for Chronic Pain: End the Pain of Arthritis, Sports Injury, and Other Joint Problems,(Intermedia Publishing Group: 2009).
Ross A. Hauser and Marion A. Hauser, Prolo Your Pain Away! Curing Chronic Pain with Prolotherapy, (Beulah Land Press: 2007).
Discover how millions suffer needlessly when there is a cure for most forms of musculoskeletal chronic pain—Prolotherapy. Find out how you can learn more about this proven therapy.
