Prolotherapy for
Spinal Stenosis |
People generally question us when
we tell them that
Prolotherapy can help relieve the pain of spinal stenosis,
yet, the answer to their questions can be found in the following five facts.
1. Many people with spinal
stenosis continue to have pain after the operation, even though the x-ray
studies show the nerves have plenty of room. This must mean that something
besides nerve impingement from bony overgrowth is the cause of the pain in
these individuals.
2.
Spinal fusion operation does
help some individuals with spinal stenosis. Well how does that help your
argument that
Prolotherapy is a viable treatment option for this
disease." Good question. Yes, the main operation for spinal stenosis is
spinal fusion. Well perhaps the pain relief from spinal fusion operation isn’t
because the nerves have more room but the stability in the spine that occurs
with the fusion operation. If the later is the case than surely Prolotherapy
could do just about the same thing.
3. No pain at rest. If the spinal
canal is so narrowed that the surgeon has to go in there and give the nerves
more room, why doesn’t the person have
back pain (or
neck pain) and leg pain
(or arm pain) when just sitting or lying down. Surely the space in the canal
is not bigger while in the lying down position, so why does the pain go away?
Don’t you see, people with so-called spinal stenosis’ have pain with
activity which is somewhat diagnostic for ligamentous/vertebral instability.
The conditions that Prolotherapy is very good at correcting.
4. Pain with activity. So called
spinal stenosis’ patients have pain with activity. Typically
ligament laxity
and vertebral subluxations/instability give pain with activity. For that
matter pelvic distortions and
sacroiliac
problems (laxity) give back and leg
pain with activity. So the common conditions that respond to Prolotherapy
could more justly account for the symptoms in most spinal stenosis patients.
5. The response to Prolotherapy.
Thousands of patients with spinal stenosis’ have relieved their pain with
Prolotherapy. It must be that the vertebral
Ligament laxity is what is causing
the pain and the bony overgrowth found on x-ray is in response to this. The
treatment, thus, should be directed at the cause of the bony overgrowth, not
at the arthritic changes themselves. Prolotherapy by strengthening the
ligaments and preventing the vertebral instability helps relieve the
chronic pain that so many have with spinal stenosis.
PROLO YOUR SPINAL STENOSIS PAIN
AWAY!
When a person is over the age of
50 and they have
degenerative arthritis in the neck or back as seen on
MRI
the
diagnosis of spinal stenosis is commonly given. Since
orthopedists and
Neurosurgeons know the condition is caused by
bone
spur formation the only
reasonable treatment must be surgery. One must question this logic when one
considers the following:
The recommended surgical
procedure for spinal stenosis is spinal fusion
The results of spinal fusion are
often unsatisfactory
Very rarely after spinal fusion
surgery does a person have no pain
Several years after spinal fusion
surgery it is relatively common for pain intensity to increase
Prolotherapy for people with the
diagnosis of spinal stenosis’ is very effective
How can strengthening the
ligaments in the neck and the
lower
back with Prolotherapy help spinal
stenosis if the condition is caused by bone spurs?
In the mid 1990’s C. Everett
Koop, M.D., former surgeon general referred a friend of his with
cervical
spinal stenosis to us for Prolotherapy. The friend did some missionary work
and in his golden years was suppose to be enjoying life. The problem was the
only thing he was enjoying was severe
neck pain with radiation down the left
arm. He had seen a surgeon who recommended multi-level spinal fusion. He
called up his buddy Dr. Koop who recommended Prolotherapy at
Caring
Medical.
The case sticks out because the
person would travel from Ann Arbor, Michigan about four-five hours from Oak
Park Illinois. As we tell all our new patients, we felt he would need between
three to six visits to resolve his complaints. He came on his fourth visit and
when asked how he was doing he exclaimed, I feel great! No more
neck pain, no
arm pain." Of course when asked, Why are you here then?" The
response was, Didn’t you say six visits?" We felt bad for him driving
four-five hours to come to tell us he is fine. He didn’t receive
Prolotherapy. About two years ago we did see him for one visit because he had
a slight return of his neck pain. This was resolved with one
Prolotherapy treatment.
THE NEEDLE IS BETTER THAN THE
BLADE FOR SPINAL STENOSIS
Spinal stenosis is an X-ray
diagnosis. MRI’s or X-rays can not diagnose a persons pain, only a health care
clinician can, (preferably a natural medicine
Prolotherapy doctor). The diagnosis of spinal stenosis is made by a radiologist when
the canal where the spinal cord is housed is narrowed. The most common cause
of this is degenerative arthritis. There are, of course, cases where this
narrowing is serious and needs surgical intervention, but this is rare.
The method in which doctors
typically deal with this degenerative arthritis is by surgical removal of it
to give the nerves more room. Because the arthritis is in multi-segments, the
spine would be unstable if all the surgeon did was remove the bone, thus the
spinal fusion operation. Spinal fusion operation involves the removal of the
degenerative arthritic bony/disc segments, followed by stabilization of the
area with screws, bolts, nuts, plates, and a bone graft from the pelvis.
Sometimes the areas in the neck and lower back to be fused have to be
approached from the front. Yes, this can mean going into the abdomen and
moving the intestines out of the way.
Spinal fusion operation is no
comparison to Prolotherapy. Dr. John Merriman compared the two in 1962, if one
can call it a comparison. He noted….
"Prolotherapy resolves the
pain and discomfort of so-called 'spinal stenosis’ because it stimulates the
structures that were stretched and torn which started the process in the first
place."
Degenerative spinal arthritis
whether it is called spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, spinal stenosis,
degenerative arthritis, is almost always caused by
ligament
injury. The
vertebrae are held together by multiple ligaments. Once these ligaments are
weakened by injury or the natural aging process, more pressure is put on the
discs. To help stabilize the area, muscles spasms result. Almost every person
with the diagnosis of spinal stenosis will give the history of having a long
history of
muscle spasms in the neck or low back. Once the muscle spasms can
no longer hold the vertebrae in place, osteophytes or bone spurs result. This
overgrowth of bone is the body’s attempt to stabilize the vertebral segment. Prolotherapy given to the area(s) of vertebral instability resolves the pain
and muscle spasm because it helps correct the underlying etiology of the
condition. No doubt about it the needle is mightier than the scalpel.
MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ABOUT SPINAL STENOSIS
1. Does Prolotherapy help spinal
stenosis?
It may not make your MRI look
better, but in the hundreds and hundreds of cases we have treated it is about
90% effective at eliminating symptoms, many times for good.
2. How can Prolotherapy help if
the bone spurs are still present?
Prolotherapy helps relieve spinal
stenosis symptoms by strengthening the ligaments that attach to the vertebrae
and the pelvis. Most of the time the symptoms of so-called spinal stenosis are
from the vertebral or pelvic instability and once this is resolved so are the
symptoms.
3. Don’t you ever recommend
surgery for spinal stenosis?
We can not honestly remember a
case that came to Caring Medical where surgery was recommended. But in the
rare instance when it was clear that the persons spinal cord was in jeopardy
it would be recommend it.
4. What can a person do if
Prolotherapy is not successful for spinal stenosis?
There have been instances where
the person with Prolotherapy was not responding quickly. In these instances an
aggressive natural medicine program including natural
hormone replacement,
supplements and
nerve blocks were warranted. Sometimes osteophytes do encroach
on nerves and in these instances nerve blocks are given in the office. These
can be of the traditional and nontraditional variety. The most common
substance that we use is
Sarapin, an extract of the pitcher plant.
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