Prolotherapy

It is a very odd experience sitting in the waiting room at Orthopedic doctors or pain clinics. I am usually the youngest person in the room which in turn, makes me feel more sorry for myself that I am actually in this position and have been for the last 12 years. What a waste of time back pain has been for me. A very elderly gentlemen who was sitting next to me asked me if the doctor had managed to fix my problem yet. I felt a bit bad with my response but ended up repeating what a neurosurgeon said to me 2 years ago when I went to him to inquire about spinal fusion. 'A back pain patient, is a life time patient'. I could see the elderly man's face cloud over a bit and all I could do was look at him and silently pray....'please don't let me still be sitting here when I am in my 70's...'

So, I had my 3rd set of prolotherapy injections yesterday at the pain clinic. I am very sore at the injection sites and it doesn't leave me many ways to sit or sleep comfortably. The doctor said it was unusual for me to have bruising but I seem to bruise very easy. I watched the youtube videos on prolotherapy and it didn't look painful at all so I am wondering why it hurt so damn much as I sitting there on the table. The doctor does the procedure under xray and starts with lidocaine to make my sacrum and lower back numb. I also have pain in the piriformis muscle and IT band so she injects those areas as well with the dextrose solution.

With the first treatment, I was very sore and stiff but I didn't have any noticeable change. With the second treatment, I did feel some of the piriformis pain easing and started to feel some tightening around my L4/L5 disc area and my sacrum. I am still very stiff in the morning but I was able to do some things that I wasn't able to do before without getting a back ache. I would say that I can go around the grocery store shopping for 30 minutes and did not have a backache as long as I wasn't standing by the deli counter for endless minutes. I also managed to go to the museum for around an hour and did not have a backache, so I would call that progress. Does the pain just disappear overnight with prolotherapy....well, no....but I do notice a change in my back pain. You will be sore for a few days each time but then you will notice the tigheting affect that starts happening around the injection areas. I have been continuing with my pilates classes just to maintain my flexibility or else I feel like I really stiffen up.

The doctor says I may need 6 or more treatments since I am in the 'chronic state' and have exhausted all my other options. I am writing about prolotherapy in the hopes of helping other people. I am not sure exactly what it is going to do for me yet, but I am hopeful. I have tried to find information through other blog pages and health boards but I found it difficult to find any meaningful information for my particular situation of having DDD, arthritis, and muscular tender points. All the blog pages and health boards seem to be dominated by Dr. Hauser who says he can cure any condition with prolotherapy. He is very good with his web exposure which in I am sure really helps his business. I would definately suggest trying to find someone local who does it before jumping on a plane to Chicago for treatment. It is worth asking the doctor how successful they have been with other treatments. I also told the doctor that I wanted to go through an aggressive treatment as I read that you need to be aggressive to get a noticeable outcome. Just remember that prolotherapy is not covered by health insurance and the price ranges greatly. I was only able to find one doctor in my area and she charges $450 a treatment so we will be looking at over $3000 by the time I am done. From what I had read online, some doctors charge much more. If you find my blog, I am here to answer any questions you may have about this treatment.