THE TOP 10 CONDITIONS
THAT RECEIVE PROLOTHERAPY AND WHY
Ross Hauser, M.D.
 

Prolotherapy helps relieve the chronic pain of many conditions but here are the top ten.

CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN
Chronic low back pain encompasses a lot of different conditions including degenerative disc disease, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, sacroiliac ligament laxity and others. Since these conditions generally have as their etiological basis ligaments being stretched, torn, and weakened Prolotherapy is needed. Typically three-six visits are all that is needed to relieve the pain.

CHRONIC NECK PAIN
Like chronic low back pain, chronic neck pain has ligament weakness as a common underlying cause. This can lead to degenerative disc disease in the neck, herniated discs, and myofascial pain syndromes. Typically three-six visits are all that is needed to relieve the pain.

CHRONIC HEADACHES
I believe because most of us are spending more and more time looking at a computer screen with our necks in poor posture, headaches are on the rise. The forward head posture puts a strain on the posterior ligaments. As these weakened, neck muscles spasm and referral headaches occur. Prolotherapy helps all types of headaches including tension, cluster, and migraine headaches.

TMJ SYNDROME
Perhaps the most used joint in the body is the TMJ. The tempomandibular joint is stressed every time a person talks or eats. Anyone who has clicking in the joint has a good chance of having ligament injury in the jaw. Prolotherapy is a great alternative for TMJ syndrome. It helps strengthen the TMJ ligament, often resolving a chronically painful, clicking joint.

KNEE ARTHRITIS
Athletes are especially prone to knee arthritis. It is also a very large joint which orthopedists like to inject with steroids. These facts combined with the massive use of anti-inflammatories, make knee arthritis very common. About 250,000 Americans each year get knee replacements. A much better option for knee arthritis is Prolotherapy. Depending on the extent of the arthritis anywhere from 3-15 sessions of Prolotherapy are needed.

ROTATOR CUFF INJURY
Most shoulder pain is from an injury to the Rotator Cuff. The most common muscle/tendon of the rotator cuff that gets injured is the supraspinatus. The supraspinatus muscle/tendon is an external rotator of the shoulder. It gets a lot of strain/stress when the shoulder ligaments are weakened. This, in addition to the fact that the blood supply to the supraspinatus tendon attachment on the humerus is poor make injury likely especially in people who use their shoulders a lot. Prolotherapy to the rotator cuff attachments onto the shoulder, as well as the shoulder ligaments, is extremely effective at helping chronic shoulder problems resolve. Typically three-six visits of Prolotherapy are all that is needed.

ANNULAR LIGAMENT INJURY
People understand the term 'tennis elbow' but most chronic elbow problems are annular ligament injury. This ligament is stressed during rotation of the elbow. So any athlete who throws or a person who has an occupation using the elbow, such as carpenters and people who type a lot, are prone to annular ligament injury. Generally again three-six visits of Prolotherapy are needed to resolve the problem.

CHRONIC ANKLE SPRAINS
The most common ligament injury in the body is an anterior talofibular ligament injury or ankle sprain. People don't realize it but one third of all ankle sprains don't heal completely. Eventually if the ligament injury is not healed, arthritis occurs in the ankle. It is best to treat ligament injuries early before arthritis develops. Again three-six visits of Prolotherapy are needed. If there is arthritis in the ankle then up to 15 visits may be needed.

TROCHANTERIC PAIN (HIP POINTER)
It is common for people to have pain on the side of the hip. There is a big bone upon which 'the pain' sits called the greater trochanter. This is where the gluteal muscles attach. Typically a person is diagnosed with trochanteric bursitis, but the pain is not from a true inflammation of the bursa (fluid filled sac) but just weakness in the muscle/tendon attachments at this site. Prolotherapy onto the greater trochanter bone typically can resolve the problem in three-six visits.

Fibromyalgia
Yes even people with body pain need Prolotherapy. If a person has whole body pain, they will often have one to three areas that hurt a lot more than others. These are the ones that need Prolotherapy. To get rid of the rest of the body pain the person needs a good nights sleep and to balance body chemistry. So for fibromyalgia typically Prolotherapy is combined with natural medicine. The whole process takes typically a year.

There you have it the top 10.