By sam on Friday, February 08, 2002 - 09:24 am:

Have my SI joints treated with Prolo? The reason I ask is that I recall an earlier post you responded to about back pain and you said that the SI should be treated as well as the low back. I am getting prolo for my low back and am experiencing groin pain mainly on the left. It dosn't feel like my hip, it just feels like the joint is not lining up right. I have had 5 treatments in the low back and have had no real response. It is early in the treatments (1 month since the first) so I know this takes time. I noticed the groin pain after the fourth and now more intense after the fifth, could it be things are starting to tighten up?

Thanks for the input.

Sam

By Park Griffin on Saturday, February 09, 2002 - 09:10 am:

Sam... Normally prolotherapy is done once a month or so. Since the prolo is done less frequently, changes to the body happen more slowly. When my wife started prolo it didn't work very good at first, because we didn't fully understand the mechanics of her dysfunction. Both of us are medical professionals and pulled some strings and pestered some people until we were comfortable enough to intelligently seek out a qualified physical therapist who understood lumbosacral dysfunctions. Since we were not getting proper therapy at first, the first 4 prolo sessions were a waste of our money. The doctor stated that wew should have seen results by then, but we didn't. Once we found, Angela, our therapist, she was able to work with Michelle, to keep her lumbosacral area in the FUNCTIONAL POSITION. This allowed the prolo to tighten the lax ligaments.

If a ligament is abnormally tight (strained) the tissue matrix that is formed is weak. Prolo does not play tug of war with you body. It will not tighten a ligament so much that it shifts your spine. It tightens loose ligaments so that it stabilizes the bony structures. Quality physical therapy is equally as important as prolotherapy!

One downfall of prolotherapy is this: When your spine "pops" out of place, a ligament which may have had normal tension on it before the back "popped" may be extremely loose immediately after. If that ligament which is now loose, tightens from prolo, can you imagine how hard it would be to get your back to pop back in??? Especially, if it is out of place for long periods because you are not seeing a physicsl therapist.

The SI Joints are very critical in this manner. If you are not actively involved with a qualified physical therpaist, DO NOT HAVE YOUR SIJ'S INJECTED.

For your spine. I'd invest in a good lumboscaral support that helps maintain the functional position of your lumbar back. Allow the prolo that you have had to "set in", finish your course og prolo as suggested by the doctor. Over the next six months, I'd make sure that you had quality physical therapy lined up. Then, if you still feel like the prolo didn't work, go for the SI injections. In the meantime, there are home corrective adjustment exercises that you can do to try and align your SIJ's yourself. There are a couple of exercises that work quite well, but it requires two people. If you have a partner who can help, let me know and I'll try and help you out.

Park

By Sam on Saturday, February 09, 2002 - 04:18 pm:

Park,

Thanks for the input. I am a Physical Therapist by trade but unfortunately backs and SI;s aren't my ares of expertise (I work in orthopedics- knee and hip replacements) I am familiar with strain-counterstrain and alot of lumbar stabilization but thats about it. I have had several of my co-workers evaluate my SI's and they say they are fine as does Dr. Faber. I guess the main thing I need to understand is that prolo takes time and I need to learn patience. I am currently seeing Dr. Faber every 2 weeks and am receiving sodium morrhulate, do you think I should cut back to once a month and take it from there? I don't want to be going to often and wasting time and money, what do you think.

Sam

By Silvia on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 08:27 am:

Sam,

My prolo doctor recommends it be done once every 4 to 6 weeks. I get it done once every 6 weeks. I'm not sure if this is the standard, or if your doctor is having you do them more often because he uses a different technique. My doctor says that the ligament strengthening phase can take place on weeks 4 to 6 after the treatment. That's why I decided to wait the full 6 weeks.

Silvia

By Park Griffin on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 10:59 am:

Sam, If you have hyperlordosis or flat back, I'd be cautious with the prolo, but if you have normal lordosis, I'd follow the guidance of the doctor. Park

By Sam on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 12:09 pm:

Park,

I have a decreased lordosis, not really flat but it is on the flatter side. Why should I be cautious?

Sam

By Park Griffin on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 01:54 pm:

Sam, I should have added syndrome to the term flat back. If the spine is too flat, it is hard to stand erect. It becomes more natural to walk leaning forward. Hip flexibility is affected by flat back syndrome. If you are just on the flatter side of norm, you should be okay. Park