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WHY
SO MANY TURN TO PROLOTHERAPY
The Failure of
Traditional Pain Management Approaches
DAVID
HARRIS, M.D.
The conventional model of pain
management relies on medications, such as anti-inflammatory drugs,
antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, opiates such as Vicodin and Codiene,
"muscle-relaxant" medications related to Valium (which actually act as
"brain-relaxants"), and other potentially addictive and risky medications.
Physical therapy and manual manipulation can often be beneficial for
musculoskeletal pain, but if the damaged structures do not heal or have been
inhibited from healing by disease or anti-inflammatory medications, these also
may fail to provide long-term benefit. When these approaches fail, cortisone
(steroid) injections are often recommended, often with very limited benefit,
given the relatively few structures that can actually be cured from the
administration of steroids.
It is somewhat ironic that
antiinflammatory medication has become a standard medical treatment, given its
effect on the body. It should not be surprising that many studies have
demonstrated that these medications actually inhibit the healing process and
eventually weaken tissues in the body, even leading to a worsening of the
"arthritis" that many people are told to take these medications for in the
first place.
As these mostly well-intended
attempts to control pain begin to fail, the next phase of treatment tends to
progress towards destructive, expensive, and risky procedures, such as
surgery, implantation of morphine pumps, implantation of stimulating devices
to block the sensation of pain, and procedures to destroy the nerves that
conduct the sensation of pain. It is absolutely clear that surgery and the
above procedures have their place; unfortunately, these approaches are
utilized far too early in the course of an illness, without attempts made to
promote a more natural healing and strengthening process. The justification
for destructive procedures is "there is nothing else that can be done," a
statement usually made by a physician who is not skilled in connective tissue
repair with reconstructive injections. Sadly, many destructive procedures are
performed with minimal recognition of the actual source of the pain.
(c) David
Harris, M.D.
The opinions expressed
here does not necessarily reflect the views of the other member physicians of
getprolo.com.
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