Cortisone shots and arthroscopy,
knee patient looks for alternative in Prolotherapy

Here is the story of a 51 year old woman from Montana who gave the following history: "I am a 51 year old active woman. I am 5'6' and weigh 134 lbs and I feel like I'll have to give up the activities that have been keeping me fit and that I love doing. I do Latin ballroom dancing and cardio dance. I don't consider either to be 'pounding' exercise.

I had a ligament tear in 2005 that seemed to have healed fine. In 2008 I had a medial meniscus tear that occurred from no particular incident that never quit hurting. I had surgery on it in 2009. Four weeks later it started to hurt again. I let it hurt for 6 months before going to a different doctor for a cortisone shot. That felt great for less than 6 months. I got a second Cortisone Injection that also lasted less than 6 months. I don't want another cortisone shot, and now I am having more pain than I had prior to the surgery. I need to find something else for my pain because the route I have been taking is just not working. Is Prolotherapy a treatment that needs to be received indefinitely or for a number of sessions and then stopped? Thanks for your reply."

Treating Post Meniscus Surgery Patients:
We cannot tell you how often we ask our patients why an Arthroscopy was performed and what the post surgery report showed. The answer is typically "I don't know." Unfortunately, people agree to procedures, surgeries, or medications without really knowing the reasons for them. We do not have a copy of this emailer's MRI or surgical report. However, it would be a pretty good guess to say that part of her meniscus was removed.

In our experience, unfortunately, this emailer is now a set up for even more aggressive medial compartment osteoarthritis, resulting in an eventual knee replacement surgery due to multiple cortisone shots and Arthroscopy. Fortunately a better solution besides long term chronic knee pain leading to a knee replacement and possible disability is available! The long term solution that is an alternative to joint replacement surgery is Prolotherapy! Prolotherapy stimulates the body to REPAIR the injured area, not cause further degeneration like NSAIDS, cortisone, and arthroscopy.

How many Prolotherapy treatments do you need?
As with any medical treatment done at Caring Medical, our Prolotherapy doctor Ross Hauser uses an individualized approach. After listening to the patient’s history and performing a physical examination, he can determine how many treatments he feels the patient will realistically need, based on the 1000’s of patients he has seen over the years. Follow-up is generally recommended at 4-6 weeks after each treatment to ensure an accurate assessment of results, avoiding an evaluation of a patient during the "window period," which is typically at the 2-3 week mark.

Some patients are seen more frequently, especially when treating an acute injury or sports injury where an athlete needs to return to his/her sport very quickly. As healing progresses, the number of injections required per treatment usually decreases. The pain generally continues to diminish with each treatment to the point where the patient is at 100% function.

The average patient requires an average of three to six Prolotherapy treatments at 4-6 week intervals. Some patients require only 1-2 treatments to reach complete healing, where others require more treatments. A patient’s overall health status plays a role in their healing – eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, living an active lifestyle, reducing stress, and eliminating cigarette smoking will help accelerate the healing process. Most of our patients also take ProloMax and ProloSupport Pack to aid in healing from www.Benuts.com.

The good news? This patient was so excited to hear about Prolotherapy - although she wishes that she heard about it before proceeding down this path. She is scheduled to come in for Prolotherapy injections (watch where do Prolotherapy injections go and do they hurt?) by Dr. Hauser - and yes, Caring Medical is located in Chicago, IL and this patient is in Montana! But when you have been dealing with a seemingly simple knee pain that has led to cortisone shots and even surgery over a three year period, you'd be willing to travel to one of the experts in the field too!