Chronic Chest Discomfort
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Costovertebral ligament laxity often refers pain from the mid-upper back to the chest. This is one of the causes for chronic chest discomfort.
Costovertebral ligament injuries are very slow to heal, or heal incompletely, because they are constantly under stress from the movement of the rib cage during breathing. The costovertebral junctions are prone to being injured any time the rib cage is jarred. This may occur from being hit in the chest, after receiving CPR, or from the effects of heart or thoracic surgery. During these types of surgeries, the sternum is opened and the ribs are spread apart, commonly causing injury to the costovertebral junctions. Chronic chest or upper-back discomfort after heart or lung surgery is almost always due to injury to the ligament support at the rib attachments in the thoracic spine or on the sternum. Prolotherapy is extremely effective at eliminating discomfort of the chest and upper back following surgical procedures such as cardiac-bypass.
Prolotherapy After Back Surgery
Many people only become aware of Prolotherapy after they have undergone a surgical procedure for back pain. Although the pain may not be as severe as it was before the surgery, most people continue to experience significant back pain after surgery. Why? Because the back surgery involved removing supporting structures, such as a lamina, facet, or disc, thus weakening surrounding segments.
Prolotherapy injections to the weakened segments in the lumbar vertebrae often result in definitive pain relief in post-surgery pain syndromes. Back pain is commonly due to several factors and surgery may have eliminated only one. It is possible, for example, to have back pain from a lumbar herniated disc and a sacroiliac joint problem. Surgery may address the herniated disc problem but not the sacroiliac problem. In this example, Prolotherapy injections to the sacroiliac joint would cure the chronic pain problem.
Unfortunately, it is common for a person to have lumbar spine surgery for a sciatica” complaint diagnosed from an abnormality” on an MRI scan. The sciatica” complaint was a simple ligament problem in the sacroiliac joint and the MRI scan finding was not clinically relevant—it had nothing to do with the pain problem. For the majority of people who experience pain radiating down the leg, even in cases where numbness is present, the cause of the problem is not a pinched nerve but sacroiliac ligament weakness.
Ligament laxity in the sacroiliac joint is the number one reason for sciatica,” or pain radiating down the side of the leg, and is one of the most common reasons for chronic low back pain.This can easily be confirmed by stretching these ligaments and producing a positive jump sign.” Ligament weakness can cause leg numbness. Most people sense pain when they have ligament weakness, but some people experience a sensation of numbness. Doctors typically believe nerve injury is the only reason for numbness, a reason so many people believe they have a sciatic nerve problem. In reality, it is a sacroiliac ligament problem. The referral patterns of the sciatic nerve and the sacroiliac ligaments are similar. In this scenario, it is unfortunate that thousands of dollars were spent on surgery and post-operative care. Had Prolotherapy treatments been performed on the pain-producing structure, this could have been avoided.
Osteoporosis and Compression Fractures
An estimated 1.2 million osteoporotic fractures occur annually and more than half occur in the vertebrae. The incidence of osteoporosis is directly correlated to testosterone production in men and estrogen and progesterone production in women. Women are especially at risk after menopause because of the drastic cessation of hormone production, whereas men experience a more gradual decline in hormone production as they age.
At Caring Medical and Rehabilitation Services, we recommend that all women take natural hormone replacements at the start of menopause and see a Natural Medicine physician for a natural health maintenance program. Exercise, calcium, magnesium, a healthy diet, and natural hormones are excellent ways for women to keep their bones strong and maintain a zest for life.
Osteoporosis may cause vertebral compression, a painful and disabling condition. A vertebral compression fracture will normally occur in the thoracic or lumbar region of the back. Untreated compression fractures from osteoporosis in the thoracic region may lead to a humpback deformity.
The mainstay treatment for a vertebral compression fracture is wearing a brace to properly position the back while the fracture heals. The problem with this treatment is that the vertebral fractures from osteoporosis are not a back brace deficiency. Thus, this type of treatment, even if exercise and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are added for good measure, does not cure the underlying cause of the problem.
Prolotherapy, in strengthening the fibro-osseous junction, the ligament-bony interface, stabilizes the compressed vertebral segment. The strengthening of the ligament and periosteal interface realign the area resulting in improved posture. Prolotherapy, however, is not a complete treatment for osteoporosis compression fractures. The underlying cause must be corrected or the osteoporosis will recur.
Whether the cause is nutritional, hormonal, or a chronic disease, the underlying etiology of the osteoporosis must be addressed to ensure long-term healing. Prolotherapy to strengthen the vertebral supporting ligaments, in conjunction with Natural Medicine treatments, is effective in healing the pain and disability caused by osteoporosis-induced vertebral compression fractures.
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