WHAT ROLE DOES PROLOTHERAPY IN CHRONIC DISEASE?
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It is common for a doctor who does Prolotherapy to see a client who has a chronic disease. A patient saw me this morning. She is a 20 year old college student who came in with her parents. She was currently on prednisone and Plaquenil for Dermatomyositis. This is an autoimmune disease which attacks the skin and muscles. Sometimes it even leads to cancer. She had significant neck, TMJ, and upper back pain. It was Prolotherapy which led them to see me. So again we ask "What role will Prolotherapy play in the person who is struggling with a chronic disease?"
Doctors treat patients to give them quality of life. This is what Prolotherapy has to offer. For the person wracked with body or localized pain, even those with a chronic disease, Prolotherapy offers them improved quality of life. For this patient, her pain was not disabling her so I spent some time giving her options. In the ideal sense we should try and find the cause of her dermatomyositis and try and wean her off of her anti-inflammatory or "anti-healing" medications (prednisone and plaquenil), as these will inhibit the healing from the Prolotherapy. She was in agreement for this. So we started with testing for food, chemical, and inhalant allergies, as well as testing for various infections as these can cause an autoimmune reaction to start. She was given various supplements to aid in healing and put on a hypo-allergenic diet. These were all very doable for her and she was happy that I wasn't just going to "jab" her on the first visit.
It is probable that ultimately to get rid of this patient's chronic TMJ, neck, and upper back pain she will need Prolotherapy. A careful history revealed that these symptoms started before the Dermatomyositis. She has a structural problem in these areas which need the healing that Prolotherapy can provide. For most people who suffer with a chronic disease that has a chronic pain component, Prolotherapy plays a definite role in helping the persons quality of life.
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