|
PROLOTHERAPY
VERSUS SYNVISC
At
Caring Medical in Oak Park we see Synvisc failures so perhaps I am the wrong person to write about
Synvisc. We have used Synvisc on two patients because they insisted. The results were very temporary.
Synvisc is paid by medicare and
insurance companies whereas
Prolotherapy for the most part is not. That is about all I have to say that is good about
Synvisc. It is very expensive (a lot more than
Prolotherapy for
knee
arthritis). It is a synthetic derivative of hyaluronic acid, a normal component of joint fluid. At best, by putting this synthetic derivative into the joint, the joint is ‘cushioned’ for a little while. In the best case scenario it is a very temporary benefit. Synvisc has no long lasting effect. The manufacturers do not claim that is has a long lasting effect. They can not claim it because it does not. The vast majority of the patients that we see say the shots cost one to two thousand dollars total and did absolutely nothing.
Compare this to Prolotherapy for
knee arthritis. Prolotherapy for knee arthritis costs about two hundred dollars per session and is very effective. It has the potential to stimulate repair, it is proliferative therapy. It helps repair the structures that are damaged or degenerated. It has both temporary benefits (two our of three patients feel better with the first treatment) and long term healing effects (in most studies 70-85% of people feel cured of their pain).
In the years that synvisc has been out, I have not had even one person tell me that it provided any significant pain relief. Yet everyday in that same eight year period I have patients with arthritis receive Prolotherapy and get considerable pain relief. Why would this be?
Prolotherapy is the only treatment that I know of that gets at the root cause of arthritis:
ligament injury. To stop the arthritic process the ligaments of the joint need to be strengthened.
As a side effect of Prolotherapy, other structures around the joint get strengthened, just as the muscles, tendons and
cartilage. If you or a loved one has arthritis, start receiving treatments that work, such as Prolotherapy.
|
