By Park Griffin on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 06:04 pm:

My wife has SI Joint dysfunction from a twisting and falling injury while in the military. She has been dealing with primary SI Joint pain and referred pain along her
right hip and right upper back close to the shoulder blade. It also has caused major piriformis muscle spasms ans sciatica. She has been through all modalities of
conventional medicine without help. She has a consult with a board certified doctor in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. This excites her because all of the other
doctor's that we have found in our area that do prolotherapy aren't board certified through conventional agencies. As far as the prolotherapy goes: 1) Who is your
prolotherapist and what is their background 2) How many injections have you been receiving per visit. 3) How many visits do you expect it to take 4) Are all of your
injections in the SI Joint 5) Can you tell me a little about your progress, IE: what can you do now that you could not do before / any pain relief.

I hope the prolotherapy continues to help you!

By Eppie on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 06:04 pm:

Sorry for the tardy response, but I haven't checked the board in awhile (we've had incredible weather in Alaska this spring).

Anyway, to sum up my experience in a few sentences...following the birth of my son last July, my ovaries (a cyst actually) kept producing an abundance of the
hormone Relaxin which has a number of functions, one being that it binds to ligaments and increases collagenase activity. This resulted in loose and painful joints all
over my body. Particularly "bad" joints included my feet, SI, and elbows (go figure).

I was not about to sit around and wait to see if my joints would "bounce back" (as the Mayop Clinic suggested I do). So, I researched and found an experienced
prolotherapist. So far, I've traveled to Minnesota 3 times to get injections in most of my joints. The last time (end of March) my doc used the high-power fish oil
solution, and though I was quite sore for a few weeks, the results have been nothing short of amazing. My SI joint is almost pain-free (other than a twinge here and
there).

My advice is to have your wife consult an experienced prolotherapist ASAP and GO FOR IT. It's really important to go to someone that knows what the heck their
doing (especially if they're injecting in the spine/hip area). I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Mark Wheaton in Minnetonka, Minnesota. I've literally had every joint except
my jaw prolo'd and he is VERY good. If you are unable to travel to MN, I have the book "Prolo Your Pain Away", which has a bunch of listings in the back. Let me
know what state you live in or close to, and I'll send you some references.

GOOD LUCK and let me know if you have more questions.

Eppie

By Kathy Johnson on Saturday, June 10, 2000 - 04:39 pm:

Hi, I read the above letter from a man about his wife. It sounds amazingly like my problem. This prolotherapy. What is it? Lot's of injections? I'm going to cut and paste my story. Can you help?I have what my physical therapist calls "classic sacroiliac" I still am
trying to understand why I hurt everyday of my life. I have a hard time
wanting to live from day to day because I live daily with pain and I have a
hard time believing no one can help me. The therapist does help with some
of the pain and so does my daily Celebrex. However, me and my fiance want
to have children and I know I can't take the Celebrex when I'm pregnant or
breastfeeding. Even when I am able to take the medicine, with the pain I
have, I can't imagine having the patience to take care of a child unless I
can eleviate some more of this pain. Here is my story.

Blunt trauma in 1987 to the sacroiliac joint. A lawn chair collasped
underneath me and the metal pushed directly into my sacroiliac joint. The
usual lumbar xrays showed nothing, however I had swelling in my joint and
an immediate muscle spasm developed in my neck/shoulder area and has been
there ever since. I tolerated almost anything except jogging, bicycling,
amusement park rides and lifting anything heavy from below my waist.
Physical therapist tried tens units and neck exercises to no avail and years
later tried rotating my pelvis back in place only to see it almost
immediately shift out of place.

Then in June, 1998 I had to take my lawn mower in for repairs and my help
did not show up so I lifted the mower myself into my car, then lifted it out
twice again. I experienced immediate excruciating pain (in the same SI joint) and subsequent
sciatic pain. Going up or down stairs became an immediate problem. I
developed numbness (which I later figured out to be edema) from the left
ankle down.

Then in November, 1999 my fiance placed an inch thick board (only about 18
inches wide by 3 feet long) under where I slept under the mattress because I
was complaining of back pain with 2 of us sinking in our bed. I slept and
had sex with this board under my hips to my neck for about 2 months. After
excrutiating pain, I finally convinced him to take the board out. I then
had inflammation from my head to my toe on the left side and muscle spasms
as well in my leg and buttock. I had lumbar, cervical, and head Xrays
because of all my pain. I even had nerve testing. Everthing turned out
normal. Finally with the prescription of Celebrex I got relief and
discovered what I thought was numbness all down the left side of my body,
was swelling. The pain has decreased but I still have the edema in my
sacroiliac joint and throughout my body on my left side. I am unable to exercise because
the swelling increases with movement.

Is there absolutely no way surgery can fix this?? Do you have any
suggestions? I live in pain daily. Please help.The swelling in the SI joint will not go away. I have an appointment for trigger point injection hopefully. My physical therapist helps with the spasms but they return quickly (a few days) without constant therapy. Kathy

By Kathy Johnson on Saturday, June 10, 2000 - 04:43 pm:

Eppie,

I live in Austin,Texas if you can tell me what prolotherapists live here. Thank you. Kathy

By Park Griffin on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 09:32 am:

Kathy, be careful of trigger point injections (they cause bone deterioration). My wife has a consult with a Medical Doctor who is a certified Physical Medicine and Rehab Doc who has performed prolotherapy with success. My wife is a nurse and will not go to a doctor who is not conventionally certified. The premise is that like acupuncture, conventional doctors have found benifits to acupuncture in a limited fashion. However, Eastern Medicine trained doctor's will tell you that acupuncture will cure anything including mental health problems. Prolotherapy is provided by many alternative care doctors who will profess that they can cure anything with prolotherapy. Many alternative care doctors center their business practice around a couple of treatments. Medical watchdog agencies suggest staying away from those practices. I know that conventionally trained MD's and DO's that do prolotherapy are hard to find, but, wouldn't you want a doctor who could use prolotherapy along with other medically sound and proven procedures treating you? Also, there are many people with unresolved pain, and, doctors know that these patients are desperate for a solution. Hence, you will find family practice doctors and other conventionally certified doctors who are not trained in sports medicine, physical medince(physical therapy)and rehabilitation offering prolotherapy to enhance the profits of their private practices. One tip about SI Joint disfunction is this: It can have similiar symptoms to fibromyalgia. Many conventionally trained doctor's who treat fibromyalgia have an extensive arsenal of treatments for it because it disrupts so many areas of the body (pain from head to toe). That is how my wife found an experienced prolotherapist. There is a doctor in Ohio that suffers from fibromyalgia himself and has added prolotherapy to his practice to treat some of the musculoskeletal and soft tissue problems associated with fibromyalgia. Also, a doctor who treats fibromyalgia offers sound pain management practices, a nutritional program, and mental well-being programs that can make life liveable again. Kathy, another tip about SI Joint Dysfunction is that the piriformis muscle spasms because of it and the piriformis muscle can lead to sciatica and other muscular pain. Have your doctor or your physical therapist explain where the piriformis muscle is and what it does. In brief, it attaches between the SI Joint and your hip. There is one on either side of the body. If it is determined that yours spasms (and I'm sure that it does), the best way of treating it is with ice. Freeze water in styrofoam cups. Cut the bottom out of the cup so that almost all of the ice is exposed leaving about a one inch ring of styrofoam towards the top. The one inch ring is so that a second person applying the ice does not freeze their fingers off. The treatment consists of rubbing the ice along the piriformis muscle (the ice is applied to the buttocks from the SI Joint to the hip). You will feel cold for first few minutes, then, the area will start to sting. Eventually (about 15 minutes of rubbing the ice back and forth between the SI Joint and hip) the area becomes quite numb. Stop the treatment at this point. Note: the piriformis muscle is deep and ice packs aren't cold enough to affect the piriformis muscle. Direct ice application is the only way. Be careful though, it's quite messy, use plenty of towels. Kathy, I'll keep you posted on how my wife makes out. I highly recommend that you purchase Doctor Ross Hauser's book "Prolo Your Pain Away". When you read the book, I guarantee that you will say many times "that's me!" and "that's what I've been trying to explain to my doctor, but, they don't seem to get it!" !!!Good luck Kathy!!!

By Eppie on Monday, June 19, 2000 - 02:16 pm:

Kathy:

For some reason, I couldn't access the board for several days. Anyway, I'll look in my book tonight for a prolotherapist in your area and I'll let you know. Also, look at prolotherapy.com or ligamentrx websites. They have a good deal of info...and most importantly, don't give up. PROLOTHERAPY WORKS!!!

Park:

Let me know if you wife has specific questions about the prolo procedure itself. It can be kind of scary if you don't know what to expect. Feel free to call at 907-745-0841 or email me. Later!

By Park Griffin on Tuesday, June 20, 2000 - 10:21 am:

Thanks Eppie!!! My wife has a consult at the end of the month. Once she finds out how he performs the treatments, maybe we can share the info with you to see if it is similar to how you were treated.

By Susie on Thursday, July 13, 2000 - 07:09 am:

To Kathy, re: prolotherapy in Austin, TExas --

I am seeing Dr David Harris, a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) MD at Sports and Spine Associates, for prolotherapy for my hypermobile sacrum. He has an excellent reputation for providing this treatment. He can be reached at 512/454-1234. I just had my first round,would be happy to talk to you about my experiences.

Susie

By Anne on Friday, July 21, 2000 - 09:04 pm:

Hi Park,
Thanks for giving me this address. I was hoping to find another group of people to talk too.
I have been off pain medicine for two weeks because of prolo. I am about 70 % better. Prolo is not magic but Ican walk around the block ,sit at the movies, go to church without crying because of pain. I last walked in Sept.99. As I told you before I lived in pain off and on for 9 or so years.
Good luck to your wife. Prolo is painful at least for me. Some people it is'nt. But it is worth it.
Let me know how she does.
Anne