Prolotherapy: Pain Relief Now Available in the U.S.

You may have heard about so-called “canadian injections.” Some of your friends, desperate to relieve chronic pain in the back, joints, and other parts of the body, may have traveled to canada to get them. The good news is you don’t have to jump over the border to take advantage of this successful pain-relieving therapy.

WHAT IS "PROLOTHERAPY" OR "CANADIAN INJECTIONS"? 
The medical term is “prolotherapy.” An alternative to surgery and cortisone injections, it’s a method of reconstructive and restorative therapy of the body’s ligaments, used to ease pain, chronic diseases, and tendon weakness. In essence, it stimulates the body’s own healing processes.
An injection is made at the site of weakness, introducing a solution that stimulates the growth of healthy, strong tissue. The healing process takes from four to six weeks. As the tendons become stronger and more capable of functioning, pain is reduced. This method was originally used extensively by Canadian doctors; hence, the term “Canadian Injections.”

GREAT FOR BACK PAIN
According to statistics, one in three people have a serious spine disease at some point in their lives. Approximately fifteen million Americans visit a doctor every year with complaints about spine and joint pain. Unfortunately, most doctors use ineffective treatment methods, offering pain management in the following sequence:
• anti-inflammatory medications, some of which are only effective for several days;
• injections of cortisone or other steroid medications that offer only temporary relief ;
• surgery
These methods may provide temporary relief, but don’t remove the real cause of pain. Most of the time, the pain returns, and in many cases, the patient’s condition actually worsens.

CURRENT BACK-PAIN TREATMENTS INEFFECTIVE
Usually, in cases of back pain, the discomfort occurs in the lumbar and cervical sections of the spine. As the body ages, the vertebra-connecting ligaments become weaker and more brittle, thereby increasing the predisposition to spine and joint injuries. People engaging in sports or physical labor have an increased risk of sprained or torn ligaments.
Chronic changes in spinal disks take place in every human body, and don’t necessarily lead to pain. Many people with a dystrophy of intervertebral disks, for example, don’t even know they have it. Radiological studies, including MRI, can confirm changes in the disks, but still don’t reveal the cause of pain. 
In most cases, the real reason the patient is suffering is because of weakened or damaged ligaments of the spine or joints. In worst-case scenarios, doctors recommend surgery. One typical procedure involves fusing the vertebrae together in an attempt to artificially restore their stability. Two-to-five vertebrae are typically fused into a unified structure. The success rate of this treatment is between 50 and 60 percent, but it comes with a serious side effect: the reduction of spine flexibility and mobility. In more than a half of all cases, the pain comes back, and stays.

BENEFITS OF PROLOTHERAPY
The prolotherapy method is based on restoring the function of damaged ligaments. Doctors apply a series of injections into specific areas where the ligaments are weakest and most damaged. Natural, non-hormonal solutions mobilize the internal resources of the body to restore ligament structure. Practical experience and research have demonstrated that after six treatments, the damaged ligaments are repaired, and new ligaments are formed.
Studies show that pain is treatable in 90 percent of all prolotherapy cases. These results cannot be achieved with traditional medical and surgical treatments. The good news is that prolotherapy is usually covered by most medical-insurance providers. Usually, four-to-ten sessions are sufficient to achieve successful results.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO CANADA!
Our office has long been providing “Canadian Injection” treatments with great success. Dozens of our patients have been able to return to normal lives with the help of prolotherapy. If you think you may be a candidate, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Dr. Michael RISKEVICH
2818 Ocean Avenue, Ste., 1
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 934-8484