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Back Pain Forums
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My doctor
doesn’t know about Prolotherapy
He wants me to have surgery. What should I
do?
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I’m considering disc surgery. What is your opinion?
A. There is rarely
any need for a quick decision about
back
surgery.
In almost all cases, even the surgical candidates, pain will gradually
diminish over a period of several months. In severe
herniated
discs,
surgery may be warranted.
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I am in a lot of pain and needed to escalate my pain medication to
narcotic strength. Can I be helped?
A. Yes you can be helped, but it will only happen after you stop taking
the narcotic pain medication.
one
reader comment
My doctor
suggested an “epidural” shot for my pain.
Is
this a good idea?
Is physical therapy or massage going to help?
Physical therapy is
the major component of the orthopedist’s “conservative” approach to low
back patients. Our experience is that the results are often
disappointing in chronic back patients.
What are the signs of spinal stenosis?
Dear Back Blog:
While the
majority of back conditions are made worse by sitting and are better
standing up, patients with stenosis of the spinal canal have the exact
opposite symptoms.
Can I see a
Chiropractor?
We discourage repetitive “high velocity” (manual “cracking”) types of
adjustments in patients receiving
Prolotherapy
since this can re-stretch already
lax
ligaments.
Read more
Is
it necessary to have an X-ray or imaging study to do Prolotherapy?
A. These are usually
unnecessary in the workup of acute onset back conditions, and are
generally not required for a trial of
Prolotherapy
in most chronic cases that we see.
Read more
Physical
Therapy and Prolotherapy
I had Prolotherapy in 2003 after an on the job injury and
re-injury during worker's compensation therapies. I was reluctant to do
so because it isn't "main stream" therapy But I am so glad that I did. I was re-injured in 2004 in a car wreck and had a "booster" to the
original Prolotherapy. Now in early 2006 I still have
muscle weakness
that is bringing back a less than before pain in the area. I started PT
today and am hoping that by strengthening the muscles in the general
area of the previous Prolotherapy so long ago, will lessen my pain and
increase my flexibility. Can you comment on this?
Read more
Prolotherapy Helped! Now,
Which Exercises Can I Do?
If one suffers from
Ligament laxity which is definitely helped with Prolotherapy (at least in my case), who determines the correct type of
strengthening exercises to do in order to strengthen the core to
hopefully prevent the lumbar ligaments from being strained again?
Read more
one
reader comment
Comment - Prolotherapy and
Rolfing
Comment from a web visitor: I have suffered from a tightness around the
"prolo'd" area that I describe as sutures pulling, especially when
trying to roll over in bed. Myofascial release (Rolfing) really helped a
lot and actually alleviated the problem without affecting the prolo'd
area.
Added comment from
Ross
Hauser, M.D.
Sometimes
muscle spasms develop after
Prolotherapy
because to get to the ligaments, vertebrae, pubis or whatever structure
Prolotherapy is being done on. the
Prolotherapy doctor
must stick the
needle through the muscle. Easy ways to reduce these muscle spasms
include massage, heat and hot epsom salt baths. Sometimes injecting
anesthetics into the muscles is necessary (Neural Therapy).
I
have a herniated disc on T3-4
I have a
herniated disc on T3-4. I have severe pain in my right
shoulder
blade. The neurosurgeon said I could live with the pain or have surgery
which would require going in through my chest to get to the spine. Has
anyone tried prolotherapy for this condition and if so, how effective
was it?
Dear Back Blog: We have
treated disc problems in the thoracic area (similiar to yours) with
Prolotherapy. Generally it is very successful. You can read more here:
thoracic
outlet syndrome and
Degenerative Disc Disease.
Answered by
Ross
Hauser, M.D.
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What would cause my whole spine to feel stressed?
The whole
right side of my body feels like it is being pulled tight from my neck
to my sit down bones and a tight pulling feeling in my pelvic floor
area.
Read more
Active Release Technique
Q. The chiropractor I saw for my neck and
shoulder pain uses a clicker
device and does Active Release Technique. He said this is very safe. I
was worse after 2 visits. He said, sometimes you have to get worse
before you get better. My prolo Dr. told me to find someone who does
ART, so I did, but the chiropractor insists on doing the adjustments
also. Any opinion if I should continue or not? I have a C-6 nerve
compression from heriated disc and stenosis. Both MRI and Nerve Block
test was Positive.
Dear Back Blog: Many doctors who do Active Release Technique do
not manipulate at the same visit. Sounds like your
Prolotherapy doctor wants
you just to get Active Release Technique. So find a chiropractor who
does that before giving up on it. Hopefully you are getting a large
portion of your neck Proloed. You should also consider a nerve block and
and an inversion table. Some patients with
cervical radiculopathy do
well by hanging upside down for a few minutes each day. Discuss this
with your doctor.
Answered by
Ross Hauser, M.D.
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Nerve Root Block
Q. Can a Nerve Root Block with
Steroid also cause scarring of the
nerve roots like a epidural does? Is this the same scenario, whether
in the lumbar or
Cervical spine?
Dear Back Blog: When patients ask me questions like this 'is
it possible'...of course it is possible because just about anything
is possible. Is it likely? No. Is it remotely likely? No. If I was
to get a nerve block would I worry about scarring on my nerve? No. Having said all that only do treatments you truly believe in. If you
are fearly and worried about a potential therapy you are not ready
for that therapy yet. If you haven't checked out Prolotherapy,
please do so. That is the treatment we use with the best success
with radicular symptoms.
Exercise for back pain
Dear Back Pain blogger, Thanks for your question. You bring up an
interesting question related to exercise. Often patients come to
see us here at Caring Medical having tried many sessions of
physical therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, and other such
modalities. Why? They still have pain. The reason for this is
that the reason for the pain is not, contrary to popular belief,
weak muscles. The muscles actually are typically overworked
because they are trying to compensate for the underlying weak
ligaments and tendons.
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