Prolotherapy, Botox, and Headaches
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Modern medicine has resorted to injecting a known toxin into the muscles of the face/neck/head to help patients get rid of headaches. Their headaches may diminish but the paralysis caused by the botulism toxin weakens the muscles.
One fact I can say for certain is that chronic headaches are not a botulism (botox) deficiency. The botulinum toxin is very expensive, and provides only temporary results.
At best the toxin paralyzes the muscles for about three months, so the person gets some symptomatic relief for that period, but then will require continued botox injections to help maintain the pain relief.
Chronic muscular headaches are not due to the muscles being too tight. If this was the case all one would have to do is get massage or do some stretching of the muscles of the neck and the headaches would be cured. Very seldom does massage therapy cure someone of chronic headaches. In contrast, Prolotherapy often cures people of chronic headaches. Why is this the case?
Chronic muscular headaches, myofascial pain syndrome of the neck and head, and fibromyalgia of the head and neck all have as part of their conditions chronic muscle spasms. Why do muscles spasm ? They spasm because either they were injured or they are trying to stabilize the joints that they move.
The body desires stability. When the underlying neck ligaments are stretched or weakened, the overlying muscles go into spasm. When these ligaments are strengthened by Prolotherapy, the chronic muscle spasms stop because the muscles no longer have to stabilize the underlying joints. Hopefully, in the future people will understand that instead of asking for poison (Botox) for their headaches they will ask for Prolo.
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Chronic Body Pain
BENIGN CONGENITAL HYPERMOBILITY
An often overlooked but extremely important reason for chronic body pain is benign congenital hypermobility (BCH). Generalized joint hypermobility (loose joints in the entire body) due to ligamentous laxity occurs in about five percent of the population and may be a genetic problem. People over 40 affected by BCH typically have recurrent joint problems and almost universally suffer from chronic pain. The end result of this condition is often diffuse osteoarthritis.
People with benign congenital hypermobility are prone to bone dislocation. Hypermobile joints are exhibited by bending the elbow or knee past the neutral position, touching the floor with the palm while bending at the waist, and touching the thumb to the forearm In subtler cases, this condition can only be determined by a physical examination-one of the reasons it is not diagnosed by most physicians. Most physicians are not trained how to adequately examine for joint mobility and ligament laxity-another reason why a person with diffuse body pain should be evaluated by a physician familiar with the technique of Prolotherapy.
Prolotherapy is a good treatment for benign congenital hypermobility because it strengthens the connective tissue to "normal" or "better than normal" condition, preventing over-extension of joints. It is recommended that all hypermobile joints be treated to prevent the formation of arthritis. Patients with chronic pain from diffuse body ligamentous laxity require more than the normal four Prolotherapy sessions. Patients suffering from BCH may also require some Prolotherapy in the future for maintenance purposes.
CARING MEDICAL SPORTS CENTER
Prolotherapy and Nutrition
Nutritional Supplements: The Total Program Optimizing the benefits of Prolotherapy through connective tissue proliferation and repair requires providing the body with all the substrates (building blocks) it needs to grow the connective tissue. All athletes should be on an aggressive vitamin, mineral, and supplement program because of the massive amount of connective tissue damage that occurs with each workout, which then needs to be repaired. Athletes may even wish to check their vitamin, mineral, and/or antioxidant levels in the blood.
Exercise itself causes damage to cells, which release free radicals, which then travel throughout the body destroying things and making connective tissue repair less likely. It is imperative that every athlete take the correct amount of antioxidants. Too few antioxidants cause excessive free-radical damage. Too much antioxidant activity will blunt the stimulatory effect exercise has on inducing muscle hypertrophy, strength, or endurance. It is now possible to perform blood tests in the office to see if an athlete's antioxidant status is adequate. Every athlete should be on a complete multivitamin/multimineral complex.
We use various supplements, depending on the athlete's goals and specific athletic events. Here are some general guidelines:
To enhance muscle strength, especially for those athletes who do sprint work or weight-training: Creatine, L-carnitine, pyruvate, American and Siberian ginseng, tribulus terrestris, cayenne, prickly ash, lipoic acid, lutein, and calcium pantothenate.
To replenish electrolytes during workouts: Sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc, preferably in an alkalinizing form such as bicarbonate or citrate.
To enhance speed, especially for runners, swimmers, and other speed sports: Pyruvate, dihydroxyacetone, whey protein, branched-chain amino acids, and adenosine triphosphate.
To enhance connective tissue repair in general: MSM, folate, SAMe, betaine, horsetail, PABA, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A, stinging nettles, proteases, enzymes, bromelain, trypsin, chymotrypsin, bioflavanoids, Panax ginseng, antioxidants, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and gotu kola.
Ice and Prolotherapy
It is obvious that ligaments require improved circulation in order to heal after an injury. Yet ice is arguably the most widely used therapeutic agent in medicine today, which most definitely decreases circulation. Ice is often the first line of treatment for traumatic injuries, yet its effect on the tissues and their healing has not been studied in depth until recently.
The Research on Ice In one landmark study done at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Sherwin Ho and associates, put a commercially-available ice wrap on one knee for 20 minutes, and on the opposite knee a wrap was placed at room temperature. The knees were then injected with dye and scanned for blood flow. The study showed that all iced knees demonstrated a decrease in arterial and soft tissue blood flow, as well as decreased bone uptake of the dye, which is a reflection of changes in both the bone blood flow and metabolic rate.
The authors go on to conclude that these findings provide a scientific rationale for the use of ice in limiting further hemorrhage and cell injury after traumatic musculoskeletal injuries and surgical procedures.
See the thinking in modern medicine? The last statement would only apply if swelling were occurring in a closed space, leading to the development of a compartment syndrome. This only occurs in muscles (and only those with a lot of damage) and never occurs in ligaments. The last statement would, therefore, not apply around the knee which is full of ligaments. The last statement in the article should read, "The findings provide a scientific rationale as to why ice should not be used in acute ligament injuries because ice has a dramatically negative effect on circulation and cell metabolism."
The weak link in the musculoskeletal system that is responsible for most nonhealing sports injuries is at the point where the ligaments attach to the bone. These studies show that ice decreases both the soft tissue (ligament) and the bone blood flow. Realize that the blood flow decreased significantly with only a 20-minute wrap. Many athletes ice their injuries for much longer than 20 minutes. The next time the trainer comes toward you with an ice pack, tell him, "Thanks, but no thanks. I want my injury to heal." Give him a copy of Prolo Your Sports Injuries Away!
Dr. William McMaster of the University of California at Irvine, a well-known researcher on the use of ice therapy and its use in athletics cautions its use because "Cold application or ice has been shown to depress the excitability of free nerve endings and peripheral nerve fibers, increasing pain threshold. This effect is of great value in acute treatment; however, its judicious use can contribute to serious injury. The loss of protective pain sensibility after local icing is probably a contraindication to athletic participation. Additional effects of cold application include: decrease in blood flow, decrease in inflammatory response, and decrease in local edema protection."
Ice is part of the now-famed R.I.C.E. treatment. R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation and is the gold-standard treatment of acute athletic injury. The theory behind RICE is that all swelling is bad and must be removed. It is our opinion that this has been partly propagated because everyone is taught about compartment syndrome, which does not apply to ligament injuries. The other reason that RICE is propagated is because of its use in surgery and in limb-salvage operations.
It is true; ice can be heroic in limb-threatening injury, but to apply that scenario to an ankle sprain, however, does not make sense. You want to increase the chance for healing with an ankle sprain. Using Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation will often produce dramatic, quick, and often permanently devastating effects on ligaments and ligament healing.
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