Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

[fretochose]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Prolotherapy may well be a permanent solution for you but you need to check it out for yourself.....

Check my long reply (it will take you 10 minutes) then do some thorough research as I did on prolotherapy - but beware there are not many who have enough experience to do it..even less people with experience to comment on it in anything except an uninformed manner !!

Hi guys.

I suggest you look at how prolotherapy has fixed Bode Miller, JJ Johnson, Eric Schlopy and Bryon Friedman of ligamentous knee and back injuries. Big news in feb 2006 because they went to a well respected doctor who has in fact lost his US licence but that is another story - they went against advice from their team trainers - because they don't know anything about the treatment - went to Mexico and BINGO - fixed..I have done a ton of reasearch on prolotherapy (and the doctor these guys went to ..he is in fact one of the pioneers and has written many papers that are still used today by ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS in the USA and UK...and taught many practitioners BUT that fact has been conveniently omitted from the press reports !!!!!) because I had a chronic back problem with stretched ligaments...I am fixed...if you have time here is my story...BUT BEWARE....Prolotherapy is only as good as the doctor who diagnoses and treats you..it requires very accurate diagnosis and incredible skill, experience and a STEADY HAND...you have got to get a very long needle into the ligament in some very inaccesible places.....especially at the point it connects with the bone..I was very lucky that I picked the only doctor in the UK who had been doing it non stop for 35 years and had had the treatment himself 40 years ago...which was why he studied it !!

here you are.....


In response to anyone asking about experience with prolotherapy.
yes I have ! I am a ski instructor. I am now 44 but had the first treatment almost 2 years ago
The treatments were not painful - just a sensation of the needle going in - this depends entirely on the therapist and even then..there is a risk of hitting a nerve. The local anaesthetic and gas
worked fine for me each time.

The treatment has been utterly successful and I would like to share my story - because there are some CAVEATs....read on.

I had a chronic lower back problem (basically slack SI ligaments and lumbar ligaments on lower right side...very common indeed) which I had been having treatment for from 2 osteopaths for it would not heal - osteopaths who had cured me of all other issues over the preceding 5 years - I was very confident in these guys so when they couldn't fix me I looked further.

I had xrays and MRIS done so I could see if there were any other reasons for my pain other than lax ligaments - the xrays and mris looked perfect - the traumatologists, osteopaths and orthopedic surgeons etc all looked at them and said the same - you look perfect...PERFECT...it's just a bit of hypermobility..it will go away...well after 28 months of NOT going away I was not going to just accept their answers...not just because they had letters after their names and nice white coats...oh no...not me....

I found prolotherapy on the internet and spent 1 year researching it every day - I asked many osteopaths, orthopaedic surgeons - ones who were personal friends AND by going to see specialists at clinics in the UK and Spain and France....nobody that I spoke to had even heard of it !

Well...I can tell you that I wish I had not spent 1 year researching it because I wasted a year of my life by having to tolerate the pain - the prolotherapy was effective very quickly - I wish I had just gone to the doctor I found the first day I read about it !!! BUT...I was lucky....the doctor I saw has been a prolotherapist for over 30 years, had had the treatment himself 40 years earlier and as a result studied it - I was lucky to find someone with this experience first time.
I have since learned - through more research and discussions with my doctor - that it is very clear that the success of prolotherapy depends on 3 IMPORTANT THINGS..

1) The skill and experience of the therapist - the therapist needs to be VERY skilled, sensitive and accurate

2) The actual solution the therapist uses - they are NOT all the same - each therapist has his preference - therfore one with more experience can judge what works better.....for example...the solutions used in the US are often NOT as effective as the solution my doctor uses because many doctors are unwilling to use enough of the one of the irritant substances - which also happens to be an antisceptic - because it has, in a very small numbers of cases, caused temporary but painful side effects - this is apparently very very rare and often due to the inaccuracy of the therapist - as I am informed. The effectiveness of the treatment is clearly
governed by how much irritant solution is used in each treatment - the more used the quicker and more pronounced the healing BUT there is a limit to how much the body will tolerate. Do not forget the healing process is the response to the local irritation caused by the needle and the irritant solution used in prolotherapy.

3) ACCURATE diagnosis....I knew what my problem was because I had felt it develop over some years and remember exactly what caused the original trauma - I had had lots of treatment with osteos, physios, etc during 15 years of sport - I could feel what the problem was - after a few little injuries you can recognise what type of problem you have and if it's getting better or not.

I was lucky to have theprivate health so I just kept going to see different people - including the main professional winter sports injury clinic in Barcelona - until I was satisfied I had the info. I went to see the prolotherapist in London with all my mris etc...he just laughed and said.."I have seen your problem every day of the week for the last 35 years - almost everyone has this problem - I dont need these mris but thanks I will look at them for you...oh yes..as i suspected...you cannot see any problem...well you won't ! The SI ligaments will not show any damage on an MRI..the slightest stretching or damage to these can be very painful but you can't see it. Do you want me to treat you now or do want to mess around for another year ?"
He examined me and clearly demonstrated to me that one side of my pelvis was far more mobile than the other...my previous osteopaths had both diagnosed exactly the same thing - and explained which ligaments would be treated.... I started there and then...I had far fewer treatments than recommended - I was in the gym within 48 hours...skiing within 2 weeks...I am a ski instructor....I had to travel from Spain to the UK for treatment.
I had 3 treatments between nov 2005 and feb 2006....the problem was 95% resolved by the 3rd treatment...but ideally I should have had a treatment every 3 weeks for about 6 months ...it would have solved it even sooner...I have since had 5 more sessions between may and oct 2006...the function of the joint was stabilised within 4 weeks of first session..my osteopath in Spain was astonished at the change and increase in stability of the right side....bearing in mind he had treated me for 5 years before and had had to realign my pelvis every visit..every 2 weeks...since prolo he has never had to do that. The mobility/movement in the joints is now almost equal on both sides. That has been confirmed by the 2 osteopaths in Spain who are not connected to my prolotherapist.
The pain had gone completely by the 3rd treatment..it had reduced to about 20% of original pain after the first treatment.
If I had to sum it up...I would say I am now 100% functional and pain free for 90% of the time..before I was in pain 90% of the time.
the other 10% I feel a slight sensation of stiffness - not PAIN - and this continues to reduce and occur less often..even without further treatment...however..I stress...I would prefer to have had more treatments close together to be sure of eliminating the problem and strengthening the ligaments as much as possible..I will have another 3 or 4 treatments very close together when I can afford it just so I don;'t have to think about it for another 30 years !!

Is that enough of a postitve vote for prolotherapy when administered correctly and appropriately ????

Good luck...back pain is horrible..and in most cases TOTALLY curable...DO NOT accept back pain advice from doctors who have NOT suffered it themselves !!!! And do not accept it as part of growing old and something you have to live with. Ask your prolotherapist lots of questions..how long have they been doing it, what solution they use etc....they are not all the same - but when you find the right one - you will be very happy !

 

[ileusutoinzihoegy]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

I had a bad back for over 20 years and there are two things that eventually worked for me after trying lots of different remedies. One was to do with working on the underlying emotional issues and for this I used Journey Therapy which is an inner guided journey to access and resolve past traumas or repressed memories. An absolutely fantastic process which I was so amazed with I trained and became an accredited Journey Therapist myself so that I could share it with others. With this process I got instant relief that only comes back occasionally when I get overtired and when my energy becomes low.
At those times and for instant relief within minutes, I make use of another great discovery called EFT which I came across and used on myself when I fell down the garden steps and cracked my ribs. The absolute agony I was in for the few weeks before I came across EFT immediately disappeared within a few hours of applying it for a few minutes at at time and has never come back. So, true to style, I became certified in this technique so that I could share it too. There's a free download for you if you log in at www.instantnaturalpainrelief.com

Lots of Love Joy )

 

[ExeneC]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Was just wondering if worn or damaged spinal bits can be regenerated by the same process that was used in growing us from babies to the giants we become.........because they have most certainly been instrumental in enabling a quadraplegic to use arms and legs that have'nt been used in 14 years...

.......what do you think about this?

Sincerely,
Laurence

 

[Liepannopleaas]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

I began to use a technique to help my IBS in 2004, and found that my IBS, backache, sciatica and constipation were all related.
While reading a medical book I had found that IBS begins with a wave of neurological activity, a pulse of electricity, far stronger than the normal levels, were being detected in clinical research at the beginning of migraine attacks. This is mentioned quite often in the definition of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). When this pulse of electricity discharges into the bowel wall, it has various effects, depending where it arrives. If it is onto the descending large bowel, it causes constipation. In other parts of the bowel, it usually causes diarrhoea or flatulence. The electrocution itself causes searing pain if the pulse is strong, an ache if the pulse is weak.
I knew that if this wave of electricity follows a nerve to a muscle, it shortens the muscle, and people who had learnt the techniques to stop the wave of neurological activity had found that backache had suddenly ceased, and sciatica had gradually calmed down. I realised why it was that people said they had simply bent down, or stood up, and their back 'went'.
I could see that a muscle on one side of the back had been shortened by the electrical discharge, leaving the opposing side loose. At any time, the imbalanced muscles could pull the vertebrae out of alignment.
It all made complete sense. People began to use the techniques to stop the neurological wave acting on muscles in the back and the shoulders. They found that their stiff shoulders eased, and the associated symptoms of IBS, constipation, and backache, all disappeared at the same time.

 

[Person XYZ]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

I am at my wits end. One year going round the medical houses. I have sharp stabbing pains in my left leg that make me scream my head off. mri showed bulging s1 discs but no neural compression. Have been on floor screaming for half the week. seeing neurologist on tues. has anyone else had this screaming stuff?

 

[anewsudz]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

yasmink I had the pain that bad. I know you can do nothing but scream during those bouts and struggle to take breaths. I recently had surgery for a disc prolapse L4/L5 and now have no pain but my surgeon told me that it was far worse than the mri had showed. There was a large amount of disc material that had moved out to the right hand side trapping the nerve but this material and compression didn't show on the scans.

 

[?kittylover?]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Would appreciate any advice , following a car accident 5 years ago my lower back is in agony , mri shows prolapsed disc L3 , 4, and 5 , I am hooked on Tramadol taking 8 a day and am crying with pain as I write this , it shoots down my leg cant feel my foot and would happily cut off my right leg at times , I see an osteopath monthly but ride horses so very physical job , plase help i cant take much more , would surgery help ?

 

[Perntieniagew]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Hi Laney!

So sorry to hear about your pain I completely understanded the awful pain prolapsed disks cause..I had a large prolapse L5/S1 since Jan 09 I ended up slouched over where I could hardly walk from the pain and dependant on Tramadol. I tried PT/Sports massage..finally had MRI which showed collpapsed/prolapsed disk. Had Micro disectomy 6 weeks ago and had instant relief. I could walk without constant sciatica!!

I have had a set back where my disk has slightly prolapsed again but I think this is due to me doing to much. Still the pain has halved. I would really recommend looking into surgery. Have a chat with your doc about the neurosurgeons in ur area they can arrange for u to have a consultation with one.

Any more you need to knw just ask xx

 

[dev s]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

My long standing and low level back problems were exacerbated and greatly increased after a rear end shunt whilst driving my car. At first, there seemed nothing wrong, but within 2 months I was totally disabled. I was unable to walk, sit or sleep without extreme pain and spasms.

As I found, minimally invasive spine surgery (key hole) will help, because this will not cause the severe damage to tissue, nerves, muscles and bone that is sinonimous with standard discograph, laminectomy and fusion. Avoid these procedure until all other options are exhausted, and even then think twice! Reaserch and research again for the least invasive treatments on offer, ask questions and demand written proof of safety and efficacy of any surgical procedures being offered.

Best wishes

SPINELF.

 

[alteddyCrergy]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

hi about 8 months ago i had tightness of the left knee and shooting spasam's and pains i use to train dance yoga so i was suprised i saw my gp and got within 3 weeks a mri scan and found out i have a si l5 prolasped disc the symptons are sciactica numbness of left foot otes and left calf pain and hurts when i stand and cough . tried diclofenac cocodamol etc . finnally got a epidural injecton in si region didnt help so now letf to get onwith it i find pilates helps simple stretching but first you need to get nri scan maybe epidural to take down the inflammation , try getting your gp to refer you to st lenoards they operate private but through nhs great service . they are called the in health netcare it is free i am in north ondon ask your gp to get refered there good luck namaste
darran

 

[lizgrsina]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Can you please tell me where you had this MISS treatment?. Was it on the NHS?

 

[STEVEN F]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Hi Carly

Who did your micro discectomy? Was it funded by the NHS?

 

[orgldrlb]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has had the micro discectomy surgery, and details of any benefits achieved after surgery, recovery time etc. I have a L5 S1 disc prolapse and have been booked in for this procedure (20 weeks waiting list ) so it is just hang tight at the moment though a cortisone injection i had in august has helped considerably with the pain (got me off 8 tramadol a day which is a big benefit). Any info would be great and i hope people are'nt suffering too much out there!

 

[sajan]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

Hi, Glad to hear your surgery is not too long away. Do you suffer with sciatic pain as well as back pain? I have the same problem as you but we have only one back surgeon in my neck of the woods and the waiting list is ridiculously long for surgery. Did the second injection really help with your pain??

 

[stoofecerhgq]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

I'm so relieved to have found this forum! I'm almost beside myself with confusion about disc problems!

Just about a year ago, I had severe lower back/leg pain, which was diagnosed as sciatica. I was handed out the usual pain killers, which did absolutely nothing to help. I went to a chiropractor over the course of 3 months, who helped a bit.

Luckily I have private medical insurance, as this was pretty expensive.

Next, I was sent to a specialist back clinic and saw a doctor who sent me for an MRI scan, which showed a prolapsed disc in the lumbar spine. Since then I've had two lumbar block injections which have helped a bit.

Now I have very little pain during the day, but am in agony at night. I wake up in pain every night, and sometimes am actually "stuck", I can't move my lower body at all, which is really frightening!

If I try to do anything more strenuous than a gentle bike ride or walk, I end up in great pain, which is so frustrating for a previously very sporty person!

My doctor is now suggesting surgery, but I'm rather reluctant to go down this route. The problem is that I don't know what else to do ..... !

 

[tuhreza]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

My doctor is now suggesting surgery, but I'm rather reluctant to go down this route. The problem is that I don't know what else to do ..... ![/quote]



To help you understand your options, have a look at these minimully invasive endoscopic laser spinal surgery links and compare with conventional surgical options, then ask your health insurence company what they will cover.

www.bonati.com
www.laserspineinstitute.com
www.microspine.com
www.spinal-foundation.org

Best wishes

SPINELF

 

[Jack Black is back]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

im a week after microsurgery and omg life is sooooo different

surgeon Mr Davies,Nevill Hall hosp ,Abergavenny ,mid wales.
nhs.

 

[Acid09]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

hi all i would just like to say what a great source of comfort you all are this forum has really helped while im recovering from back surgery /8 weeks post op still in pain and not sleeping very well at the moment ive had revision of previous discectomy .does anyone know how long it will take before i get back to normal / am i just beeing soft still on dhc . ive had enough .

 

[Blame it on tha BooGie]

WE HEAR YOUR PAIN FRIEND!!

It really does depend on a lot of things quarr4bank, like your age, prior condition, length of illness, procedure type, complications and so on.
Could you give us more detail please, someone may be in a position to advise your more accurately then!

Best wishes

SPINELF

 

[GaryRichards]

Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.

thanks spinelf .its quarr4bank .ive just been to see my neuroseorgeon ,ive now got other problems with my bladder he said its nothing to do with the surgry i had 8 weeks ago hes now discharged me im really down at the moment .hes passed me over to a urologist n the pain clinic again ,he wouldnt answer any of my questions .i had n mri 4 wks ago he lost my scan results /ihad a revision of a discectomy ,oh and a duarel tear . i feel like n old women and i have ayoung family to look after ,im not very good on the comp idont know how u pick up ure replies .x