Prolotherapy

Sclerotherapy Natural Treatment for Pain and Joint Instability

 Do you suffer with persistent pain, joint aches, or have been diagnosed with degenerative arthritis? Or, do you require repeated treatments to align your spine because the adjustments just don’t hold? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you may be a candidate for sclerotherapy. 

 What is sclerotherapy? Sclerotherapy is a medical procedure that strengthens the supportive structures around your areas of join discomfort and instability. By strengthening these areas, degenerative processes can be slowed and spine alignment is often maintained without repeated spinal adjustments. Pain often diminishes or subsides entirely. The goal of this therapy is to produce normal dense fibrous tissues which strengthen the attachment of ligaments, tendons, joint capsules, and fascial structures at their fibro-osseous junctions. These sites are injected with solutions known to have the capacity to produce new fibrous tissue. As the new tissue is formed, the hypermobile joint will stabilize. Sclerotherapy is also known as prolotherapy, or reconstructive therapy.

 Is sclerotherapy new? Actually, a form of sclerotherapy dates back to 500 BC. It has been used in various cases for 50 to 60 years, but it was in 1963 that Dr. G.S. Hackett reported success in treating hypermobile sacroiliac cases and weakened disk ligaments as therapy for spondylolisthesis.

 Who needs sclerotherapy? Anyone suffering from joint pain subsequent to injury, nutritional insufficiency, metabolic disorders, or arthritis, may be a candidate. Loose ligaments and tendons result in hypermobile joins which are moderately to extremely painful and stiff.

 What areas may be treated by sclerotherapy? Sclerotherapy is effective in the treatment of whiplash injuries, neck and back pain, dislocated shoulder joints, knee and elbow joints, disk lesion, and multiple other joints.

 How long do sclerotherapy treatments take? The length of treatment varies from a period of a few days to a number of months, depending on the patient. Patients are often treated on a weekly basis.

 Is sclerotherapy painful? Any pain involved with the injections will vary according to the individual. Some patients may experience some degree of pain while others may experience a moderate amount of discomfort. Solutions used in sclerotherapy usually contain a local anesthetic such as Lidocaine. Other ingredients within the solution may be: Dextrose, Phenol as a preservative, and other specific ingredients tailored to each patient’s needs. Cortisone is not commonly used in sclerotherapy. Analgesics are given if they are needed.

 Can sclerotherapy help everyone? An examination and evaluation of the patient is secured by the patient’s history and physical examination. X-ray examination and laboratory work are often done prior to beginning a series of sclerotherapy treatments. A number of variables may affect the success rate of the treatment, but in general, 80 to 95 percent of the patients treated experience full-term remission, according to an article entitled “Join Stabilization with Reconstructive Therapy” by L. Terry Chappell, M.D., and Nan Tidrick Kineow, R.N, M.S. It was published in The Journal of Advanced Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 1, spring of 1992. This study showed that the group experiences significant improvement following a series of 6 to 28 treatments. Improvements were maintained and no patient required any subsequent surgical procedure on the affected part within six months of the last treatment. The conclusion of that article stated that,  “Reconstructive therapy requires specialized training, but appears to be an effective treatment for many patients with unstable joins with and without arthritis. It should be studied further and compared to anti-flammatory medications and surgery as a treatment for arthritis, degenerative disk disease, and unstable joints. An appropriate series of injections may be more cost-effective and provide better outcomes than treatments commonly recommended by most physicians at this time.”

Symptoms which tip off that someone may benefit from proliferative therapy?

• Pain after or near the end of activity

Before PROLOTHERAPY                    After PROLOTHERAPY