PRP and Prolotherapy: A highly effective, minimally invasive technique to cure back pain.

As an MD who specializes in musculoskeletal pain and Regenerative Medicine, one of the most common presenting complaints I encounter is backpain. Unfortunately the true cause of backpain is often misdiagnosed and naturally, conventional orthopedic and neurosurgical treatments often yield poor results.

Approximately 80 to 90% of backpain actually come from the connective tissues i.e. the ligaments, tendons and joint capsules that hold the body together. The bony attachments of these tissues are highly innervated structures that give us our joint feedback (so-called proprioception). If these structures are stretched they become huge pain generators. These are in fact, sprains and strains and account for the vast majority of pain syndromes in the musculoskeletal system. They are far more commonly the problem than any bone, cartilage or nerve.

The problem arises that xray and MRI are not sensitive enough to pick up these stretched tendon or ligament insertions. The only reliable way to pick them up is via a physical exam by an experienced prolotherapist. If I palpate a damaged structure directly and the patient feels the same pain that they routinely experience, I feel with a large degree of certainty that I have diagnosed the problem.

Prolotherapy is a precise microinjection technique to stimulate the healing of the damaged insertion. The problem with connective tissue healing is a question of blood flow. These tissues are white, fibroelastic tissue that lack blood flow and may therefore never heal (the body can only heal by getting the right cells in the area to repair the damaged area). In Prolo we use concentrated dextrose or PRP (the patients own spun down blood) as proliferants to stimulate the blood flow and healing of damaged tissues. The process usually takes 4 to 10 sessions depending on the degree of damage, the accuracy of the microinjections and the healing rate of the person.

Prolo and Regenerative Injection techniques have been around for over 60 or 70 years and if done properly, are very safe. The shots are often a little uncomfortable but we do numb the skin to attenuate the discomfort. Most patients don’t mind a little extra pain once I explain that the regenerative injections are indeed the only way to fix the problem once and for all. The mantra “No Pain, no gain” is most applicable to this field.

My success rate once I have identified a candidate is about 85%. Patients are often amazed that the pain that they have suffered with for so long, can actually be cured with such a simple and safe technique.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more on this exciting field. For those in the tampa bay region, call the office to check when the next free seminar is being held.