ACUTE MENISCAL TEAR
Robert Filice, M.D.
Recently I did the first follow up session for a patient I had initially
seen two weeks before for acute severe knee pain.
At that time the patient was unable to walk because weight bearing on her
left knee was impossible due to severe pain, which she graded an 8 out of a
maximum ten point scale.
The patient had walked on a pair of high heeled shoes for an occasion, and
had pain ever since. She also noticed a tearing or popping sound as she was
trying to move around. My exam suggested the possibility of a medial
meniscus
tear, so in addition to doing a
Prolotherapy treatment on the knee (including human growth hormone
inside the joint for faster repair of internal structures), I did order an
MRI
of the knee.
I was concerned about her complete inability to walk, and her pain level,
and considered that I might want her to have an orthopedist consultation as
well. Two days later I got the MRI result back, and it confirmed a tear of
the left medial meniscus. At this time I gave a copy of the MRI along with a
note asking about the need for an orthopedist consultation to my collegue,
Ross Hauser,
M.D. Before I heard
back from him on his thoughts about whether an orthopedist consultation was
advisable, and how to manage the patient's high level of pain, I called the
patient to follow through on the test results and to see how she was doing,
I discovered to my delight (and frankly, somewhat to my surprise...!) that
her pain level was already (two days after her Prolotherapy treatment) down
from an 8 to a two, and with the aid of the crutches I had recommended she
obtain, she was getting around fairly well!
I know very well and first hand how effective Prolotherapy is for chronic
pain, injuries, and strains. I was honestly somewhat hesitant about whether
it would provide enough relief quickly enough for this severe acute
meniscal tear. But it appears that
Prolotherapy will be all this patient needs to recover completely, and she
will not need to see an orthopedist at all. Had this patient not already
known about and previously benefited from Prolotherapy, almost certainly
today she would still be recuperating from
arthroscopic surgery. Hopefully
that would have reduced her acute pain, but at the cost of accelrating the
degenerative changes that lead to later arthritis in the knee. That is the
usual long term complication of arthroscopic surgery of the knee.
Prolotherapy is a much better way to go for most people. So for acute or
chronic musculoskeletal injuries, think Prolotherapy.
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POWER
OVER PAIN