No Surgery Please
Ask someone suffering from joint pains and osteoarthritis if he or she is willing to undergo surgery... the most likely answer will be “No!”.
Nobody wants to undergo surgery if it can be avoided.
What if there’s a way to rebuild what has become weak, old and worn-out? What if we can “regrow” torn or thinned-out tendons, ligaments and joint cartilage and prevent surgery?
We can.
We do!
What is new are special injection treatments that grow new tissue: Regenerative Injection Therapies that include Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections and Prolotherapy (1).
Let me talk about Prolotherapy for now.
Prolotherapy is “not new” in the sense that it has been practiced in one form or another since ancient times. Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” used hot metal probes to heal dislocated shoulders in athletes circa 400BC(2).
Prolotherapy in its “relatively new” and modern form started taking shape in the 1930s (3). Unfortunately, today, many are still unaware of what Prolotherapy can do.
Prolotherapy is “new” -- and herein lies the advantage. For the doctor to pioneer in this cutting edge healing science, master it, and offer it to patients in need. For patients to have a choice -- the knife or just injections.
“Prolotherapy” comes from 2 words: “proliferation” and therapy. Prolotherapy injections result in the proliferation or “growth” of new tissue trauma and time have torn and thinned out. This means Prolotherapy helps repair tendons and ligaments (sports-related injuries) and promotes growth of new ones (degenerative osteoarthritis).
Prolotherapy is low-tech which means it is a procedure that can be done in any medical facility – in the city or in the barrio. Rich or poor, young or old -- everyone can benefit from Prolotherapy.
And so we are encouraging General Practitioners (GPs) from everywhere, especially those practicing in the provinces, to add Prolotherapy to their medical armamentarium.
Prolotherapymanila.com (http://prolotherapymanila.com/training/) believes in the vital role GPs play in healthcare. Teaching GPs Prolotherapy will not only enhance their skills but also empower them.
Prolotherapy is a reasonably priced, effective, minimally-invasive way of treating musculoskeletal problems. It works, and the thousands of patients helped by Prolotherapy know this...
More about the “modern” history of Prolotherapy and why it helps in my next post.
References:
Wikipedia, “Prolotherapy”. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolotherapy
Andersen, A. D.O. (2015, May 11). The History of Prolotherapy. Retrieved from https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/complementary/prolotherapy/history-prolotherapy
The History of Prolotherapy. Retrieved from http://prolotherapy.co.za/home/history-of-prolotherapy.html
What are your thoughts on the conflicting evidence of the efficacy of prolotherapy in many joint conditions?
Also you can create links in the text by doing the following
[The History of Prolotherapy.] (http://prolotherapy.co.za/home/history-of-prolotherapy.html)
-remove the space between the square and round brakets to make-
The History of Prolotherapy.
Hi tfcoates. My experience tells me that Dextrose Prolotherapy works. I've been doing Prolotherapy for about a decade now and I can say that a great percentage of my patients with joint problems, especially those with osteoarthritis, get better with Prolotherapy. I believe successful treatment requires proper patient selection, patient education, an excellent Prolotherapy technique, orthotics if needed, adjunctive therapies, and a good doctor-patient relationship. Thank you for the question, tfcoates.
Thanks for the answer. It seems like a holistic approach is quite important then!