|
Medical Research and
Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy is effective
because it attacks and eliminates the root cause of
chronic pain:
ligament and
tendon relaxation. Ligament relaxation causes joints to loosen. A weak
ligament will have difficulty holding a joint in place. The nerve fibers
within the weakened ligament are activated and cause local pain.
They may also cause a
referred pain. The
muscles surrounding the loose ligament contract to help stabilize the
joint-the reason why people with loose ligaments and chronic pain have tight,
painful muscles. Only when the weakened ligaments are strengthened will the
local and referred pain patterns, as well as the muscle pain, subside. The
same is true for tendon weakness.
The Research of George Hackett, M.D.
Although chronic pain has many causes, the
vast majority of chronic pain sufferers have loose joints caused by ligament
weakness. This is evidenced by George S.
Hackett, M.D.'s research study
described in the third edition of his book, Ligament and Tendon Relaxation
Treated by Prolotherapy, published in 1958. The study consisted of the
following:
- sample size: 656 patients
- patient age range: 15 to 88 years old
- duration of pain prior to treatment: three months to 65 years
- average duration of pain prior to treatment: four-and-a-half years
- duration of study: 19 years
- number of
Prolotherapy injections given: 18,000
Twelve years after the Prolotherapy
treatment was completed, 82 percent of the patients considered themselves
cured. Dr Hackett believed that the cure rate with Prolotherapy was over
90 percent due to improvements in the technique over the years.
In 1955, Dr. Hackett analyzed 146
consecutive cases of undiagnosed low back disability during a two-month
period. He found that 94 percent of the patients experienced joint ligament
relaxation. In 1956, a similar survey of 124 consecutive cases of undiagnosed
low back disability revealed that 97 percent of patients possessed joint
instability from ligament weakness. The
sacroiliac ligaments were involved in 75 percent of the low back
ligament laxity cases. The
lumbosacral ligaments were involved in 54 percent. He also
noted that approximately 50 percent had already undergone
back surgery for a
previous diagnosis of a disc problem.
At this time, Prolotherapy produced an
80 percent cure rate even though 50 percent of the people treated had
undergone back surgery. Obviously, the surgical procedures did not relieve the
patients' back pain. Rarely does a disc problem cause disabling back pain.
Chronic pain in the lower back is most commonly due to ligament weakness-the
reason Prolotherapy is so effective.
Dr. Hackett attributed ineffective
response to Prolotherapy to:
1) inability to clearly confirm the diagnosis by the injection of a local
anesthetic solution,
2) failure of the patient to return for completion of the treatment,
3) treatment in the presence of another disability,
4) a less refined technique and less experience in the earlier studies,
5) lowered morale from years of suffering and disappointment from
unsuccessful
treatments and
dependence on prescription
pain medications, and,
6) nonresponsiveness to the stimulation of proliferation.
Prolotherapy works because it causes
ligament and tendon growth. Dr. Hackett used Sylnasol, a sodium salt fatty
acid, as a proliferant in his original work. Animals were given between one
and three injections of the proliferating solution into the tendon and the
fibro-osseous junction. There was no necrosis (dead tissue) noted in any of
the specimens. No destruction of nerves, blood vessels, or tendinous bands was
noted. Compared to noninjected tendons, tendons treated with Prolotherapy
showed a 40 percent increase in diameter. The fibro-osseous junction, where
the tendon attaches to bone, increased by 30 percent, forming permanent tendon
tissue.
Dr. Hackett believed the 40 percent
increase in diameter of the tendon represented a doubling of the tendon
strength.
The Research of Gustav A.
Hemwall,
M.D.
Gustav A. Hemwall, M.D., learned the
technique of Prolotherapy from Dr. Hackett and then proceeded to treat more
than 10,000 patients worldwide. He collected data on 8,000 of those patients.
In 1974, Dr. Hemwall presented
his largest survey of 2,007 Prolotherapy patients to the Prolotherapy
Association.
The survey related the following:
- 1,871 patients completed treatment
- 6,000 Prolotherapy treatments were administered
- 1,399 (75.5 percent) patients reported complete recovery and cure
- 413 (24.3 percent) reported general improvement
- 25 (0.2 percent) patients showed no improvement
- 170 patients were lost to follow-up
More than 99 percent of the patients who
completed treatment with Prolotherapy found relief from their chronic
pain.
These results are similar to those published by Dr. Hackett, showing
that Prolotherapy is completely
curative in many cases and provides some pain relief in nearly all.
related
articles
How Safe is Prolotherapy
The Dangers Of Prolotherapy
The
History of Prolotherapy
Why Isn't there More
Research on Prolotherapy?
Being a patient of Caring Medical
Make an
Appointment On-line Or
Call 708-848-7789
|
Prolotherapy
Our
Prolotherapy Books - 
POWER
OVER PAIN