Here at Caring Medical Dr. Hauser sees lot of people who we wish would have come in before they entered the traditional “pain management system” soon after they received a painful injury, and began a journey that led them nowhere. One of our nurse’s spouses was fortunate to have heard about Prolotherapy and was able to be treated with regenerative injection therapy (Prolotherapy) soon after she sprained her back at work.
Lumbar and SI pain from excessive computer work
Tessie had a job that involved sitting at her desk for hours at a time, a position that is notoriously hard on the lumbar and sacroiliac areas. She did not have a history of back pain, but one day she swiveled in her chair to reach some papers behind her and heard a “pop” come from her low back. She had immediate pain in her lumbar area and found it difficult to move. It hurt to sit down. It hurt to stand up. She could not find a position that did not hurt except lying down. For better or worse, she happened to work at a hospital, thus her supervisor sent her to the clinic that treated injured employees.
Traditional treatments recommended by hospital doctor
The doctor at the clinic did not give her a diagnosis other than back pain and sent her home with a narcotic pain reliever. The plan was for her to stay at home and rest, apply ice, take the strong narcotic along with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen and return to the clinic in one week if not better. This was not quite the RICE protocol of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (hard to elevate low back higher than the rest of the body), but it was close. Well after three days of our nurse seeing his wife in terrible pain, and seeing it take literally five minutes for her to get out of bed, he told her, “We are going to Caring Medical to see Dr. Hauser.” As Tessie was not getting any better, he knew the next step in the “pain management system” would be the clinic doctor ordering an MRI, prescribing a stronger narcotic and ordering a trial of physical therapy. The possibility of lumbar surgery loomed if they found any abnormalities on the MRI, like a herniated disc. More than likely, the clinic doctor would not have mentioned that it may be a ligament injury causing her pain and would have been more focused on a possible disc problem.
Prolotherapy Treatment at Caring Medical
Dr. Hauser evaluated Tessie upon her arrival at Caring Medical and told her thepain was probably due to a ligament sprain injury causing joint instability in her low back. Because we treat cases like Tessie’s everyday, we were pretty certain that Prolotherapy should relieve her pain.Although Tessie had heard a lot about the excellent Prolotherapy results at Caring Medical from her husband,she was surprised how quickly she had pain relief. She was sore from the treatment and rested in bed that night, but she moved around the house much better the next day. Dr. Hauser ordered the MEAT protocol of Movement, Exercise, Analgesics and Treatment. She was encouraged to get out of bed and move around as tolerated, take acetaminophen, as needed, for pain, which did not knock her out like the strong pain meds she wasoriginally prescribed at her clinic, and come back for another Prolotherapy treatment if needed. NSAIDs, anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, were discouraged as Prolotherapy initiates an inflammatory response which stimulates the immune system to heal a connective tissue injury, such as a ligament sprain. She was also given some exercises to do at her desk when she returned to work, to help prevent a recurrence. Tessie was back to work in two days. She had one more Prolotherapy session a few months later as a small portion of her pain returned, but has not needed another treatment in four years. The average patient at Caring Medical needs 3-6 Prolotherapy treatments. Because Tessie was lucky enough to be married to a Prolotherapy nurse, she was treated right away, before the ligament sprain turned into chronic ligament laxity. The original protocol recommended by her work clinic would have very likely made her worse off in the long run.
Come sooner rather than later!
Cases like Tessie are why we at Caring Medical like to see our patients fairly soon after they are injured, if their pain is not lessening as the days go by. Ligament injuries, like sprains, can linger as ligaments have a poor blood supply. Dr. Hauser would like to save our clients the expense and time spent on unnecessary MRI’s and doctor and therapist visits and from needless suffering. So if you have sprained or a strained back, shoulder, or other joint, and the injury is not improving, pick up a phone and call us at Caring Medical at 708-848-7789. We are happy to talk to you about speeding your recovery with regenerative injection therapy aka Prolotherapy!