Knee Braces and Football Injuries
Nothing stops a football player's career more frequently than a knee blowout. But can a knee blowout be repaired to 100%? This is a pretty easy questions for a Prolotherapy doctor to answer because, as long as the injury does not involve a complete tear of a tendons or ligament, the injury can be completely healed with Prolotherapy.

Teenage female patient
with multiple knee surgeries
When this teenage athlete came to our office in spring 2010, she suffered from  of hopelessness. Prior to her injury she was an extremely active teenager, but now after multiple surgeries she was still in severe pain. She  loved hiking, soccer, tennis, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. At age 15, our patient suffered an ACL tear and a meniscal tear in her knee and she underwent surgery to repair those structures. Her post-surgical recovery was complicated by an infection, which required her to have another surgery and a PICC line in place for a couple months to receive long-term antibiotic therapy. As time went on, MG did not experience the pain relief and results she had hoped for and two years after her first two surgeries, she underwent another knee surgery to remove a Cyclops lesion that was a result of a complication with her ACL reconstructive surgery. A Cyclops lesion is a localized area of scar tissue that occurs in 1-9.8% of patients after ACL surgery when the new ligament begins to fray and bundles into a knot. Due to its location, this localized area of scar tissue can inhibit full extension.

Injury Risk During Menstruation
Puffy knees, aching joints, sprains, strains, and tears. While these pains are usually attributed to "over doing it", researchers have found that workout and sports related injuries may be triggered by changes in hormonal levels during the menstrual cycle.

Chronic Shoulder Instability,
Dead Arm Syndrome, Rotator Cuff
Overuse syndrome as a cause of Dead Arm Syndrome?
What happens in overuse syndrome?
Tired, weakened, overstretched ligaments to blame?
A natural consequence of weakened or injured shoulder ligaments is chronic shoulder instability. This situation may occur as a result of previous Shoulder Dislocations, but may also occur due to congenitally loose joints or from repetitive motion injury as in pitching. Repetitive microtrauma, occurring as a direct result of these injuries, begins to take its toll on the supporting structures of the shoulder and disrupts the delicate balance between mobility and stability. Subtle signs of joint instability and laxity become evident, including pain with abduction and external rotation (called a Positive Apprehension Test), tenderness to palpation throughout the shoulder joint, and the subjective feeling of weakness in the arm (Dead Arm Syndrome).

Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia, a thin layer of tough tissue supporting the arch of the foot that runs from the heel to the base of the toes. It looks sort of like a series of fat rubber bands, but the plantar fascia is made of collagen which is more rigid and non-stretchy. Repeated microscopic tears of the plantar fascia cause pain that is most notable in the morning after getting out of bed. Putting weight on the injured area after periods of rest (such as sleep) will cause stress on the area and a more sudden, aching pain. Plantar fasciitis may also be called “heel spurs,” but this is not always accurate because bony growths on the heel may or may not be involved.

An Alternative Treatment Solution
For Shin Splints
Shin splints can be a common and chronic problem in athletes typically doctors will recommend

1. Icing to reduce pai nand swelling
2, NSAIDs or anti-inflammatories or pain-killers
3. Arch supports for the shoes
4. Range of motion exercises
5. Neoprene sleeve.
6, Physical therapy
7. Surgery

Prolotherapy for Athletes with Hip, Pelvic or Groin Pain
Many people are subjected to hernia surgeries for chronic groin pain, which has nothing to do with a hernia! Patients come to us after a hernia surgery failed to "cure" them of their groin pain."

Sports Injury Rehabilitation to Avoid
Ross Hauser, MD is a Prolotherapy doctor discusses RICE treatment, NSAIDs or cortisone, and why they cause long-term damage. Prolotherapy stimulates the body to REPAIR the injured area, not cause further degeneration like NSAIDs, cortisone shots, and arthroscopy.

Does Resting A Joint Injury Have Side Effects?
Immobilization, also known as stress deprivation, is extremely detrimental to the joints and ligaments. Immobilization causes the following changes to occur inside joints:

Ankle Fusion
It is common for a Prolotherapy doctor to see patients with continued pain after surgery. Often overlooked causes of this post-surgery pain are that the surgery itself may cause ligament injury or the surgery may not repair the ligament injury. When performing surgery, the ligaments are stretched and pulled in order to gain access to the joint.

Runner's Knee: Treatment Alternatives
We recently received this email from a woman in Wisconsin who is suffering from runner's knee pain. From her case history it was obvious that she was going to be run through the traditional treatments fro runner's knee:

· The RICE treatment of sports injuries, which starts with rest, which most runners HATE, followed by
· NSAIDS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs),
· cortisone shots

Which would further lead to:

· MRI which typically leads to
· surgery
and the patient ends up with further degeneration and is still left with the pain.

Golfing Injuries and Alternative Treatments
What hurts golfers the most?

-Lower back strain and injury

-Left shoulder strain and injury for right-handed players

-Left lateral or strain (epicondylitis) of left elbow for right-handed players (analogous to Tennis Elbow)

-Right shoulder strain and injury from overuse

-Right hip and knee injury from aggressive driving motion of downswing

Sports injury and Prolotherapy home