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OUTCOMES
D.P. was the sole person obtaining the patient information during the telephone interviews. The patients were asked a series of questions about their pain and various symptoms before starting Prolotherapy. Their response to Prolotherapy was also detailed with an emphasis on the effect Prolotherapy had on their hand pain, stiffness and medication use. Specifically, patients were asked questions concerning years of pain, pain intensity, stiffness, number of physicians seen and medications taken and whether the response to Prolotherapy continued after the Prolotherapy sessions stopped.
ANALYSIS
For the analysis, patient percentages of the various responses were calculated. These responses gathered from clients before Prolotherapy were then compared with the responses to the same questions after Prolotherapy.
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS
Complete data was obtained on a total of 40 hands who met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 75% (30) were female and 25% (10) were male. The average age of the patients was 60 years-old. Patients reported an average of four years seven months of pain and saw 2.8 MD’s before receiving Prolotherapy. The average patient was taking 1.0 pain medications. The demographics of the patients can be seen in Table 1.
| Table 1. Patient Characteristics Prior to Prolotherapy. |
| Hand patients |
n=40
|
| Percentage of female patients |
75%
|
| Percentage of male patients |
25%
|
| Average age |
60
|
| Average years of pain |
4.6
|
| Average number of MD's seen |
2.8
|
| Average pain medications |
1
|
| No other treatment options available |
38%
|
| Surgery only other option |
7%
|
TREATMENT OUTCOMES
Patients received an average of 4.5 Prolotherapy treatments per hand/finger. The average time of follow-up after their last Prolotherapy session was eighteen months.
Patients were asked to rate their pain and stiffness levels on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being no pain/stiffness and 10 being severe crippling pain/stiffness. The 40 hands had an average starting pain and stiffness level of 5.9 and 5.6 respectively. Their ending pain and stiffness levels were 2.6 and 2.7 respectively. Thirty-five percent had a starting pain level of 8 or greater, while only 10% had a starting pain level of two or less, whereas after Prolotherapy none had a pain level of 8 or greater while 65% had a pain level of two or less. (See Figure 3.)
Ninety-eight percent of patients stated their hand pain was less after Prolotherapy. Over 71% said the improvements in their pain and stiffness since their last Prolotherapy session have continued 100%. Eighty-two percent of patients stated Prolotherapy relieved them of at least 50% of their pain. (See Figure 4.) In regard to pain medication usage, before Prolotherapy the average patient was taking 1.0 pain medications but this decreased to 0.5 medications after Prolotherapy. Before Prolotherapy, 11 patients were taking two or more medications but this decreased to three people after Prolotherapy. Of patients not taking pain medications upon completion of their Prolotherapy series, none reported subsequently restarting pain medication due to hand or finger pain.
a simple yes or no question: “Has Prolotherapy changed your life for the better?” 95% percent of patients treated answered “Yes.” Seventy-five percent came to receive their first Prolotherapy session on the recommendation of a friend. One hundred percent of these patients have recommended Prolotherapy to someone else.
| Figure 3. Pain levels and stiffness levels before and after receiving Hackett-Hemwall Prolotherapy in 40 patients with unresolved hand pain. |
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| Figure 4. Percentage of people who reported 50% or greater pain relief. |
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