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Prolotherapy
for
Chronic Pain
and
Sports
Medicine
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NSAIDs NSAIDs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs . These are drugs that are not steroids but whose main function is to reduce inflammation (just like steroids). The first NSAIDs used were of the chemical name salicylates of which aspirin was the most common. It was phenomenal in reducing inflammation, however, it would commonly bore a hole through the stomach. Upwards of 30 percent of patients could not tolerate it for that reason. Hence, the advent of all of these new NSAIDs.
Are NSAIDs Safe?
You may ask,
"How does this happen? How can the Food and Drug Administration approve
medicines that kill upwards of 100,000 people each year?" The answer is
easy. They forget the facts. Drugs suppress normal, healthy bodily processes
and mechanisms so the only end result has to be harm to the person. They may
have a short-term benefit, such as pain relief, but there are many more
long-term problems. Let's just take one FDA-approved NSAID: Duract (bromfenac).
It was launched in July of 1997 as the strongest NSAID ever to come on the
market. In just 11 months after hitting the market, over 2.5 million
prescriptions were written. It wasn't too long before all the adverse drug
reactions started piling up. The FDA was flooded with cases of adverse drug
reactions, including liver failure and deaths. The company was then forced to
voluntarily withdraw the drug from the market in June of 1998.
Besides
death, NSAIDs cause a myriad of other well-known side effects. Compare this to
the side effects of
Prolotherapy. It should be noted that the Physicians' Desk
Reference, the main reference book on drugs, lists over one hundred side
effects for each of the NSAIDs. Typically the side effect lists for the NSAIDs
take up over 50 percent of the space for each drug in the book. Due to the
frequent side effects of NSAIDs, a new class of anti-inflammatories is
invading the market called COX-2 inhibitors. These apparently inhibit the
cyclooxygenase enzyme that causes pain and inflammation, but do not inhibit
the COX-1 enzyme that protects the stomach. Athletes, do not be fooled!
Anti-inflammatory is anti-inflammatory! Cyclooxygenase is the key enzyme,
which starts the healing cascade. Any medication that blocks that process will
hamper your chances of healing.
Besides the
above reasons not to use NSAIDs, there is the effect these drugs have on the
pocket book. Many of them cost over $100 per month to use, including Piroxicam,
Diflunisal, Ketoprofen, and Fenoprofen. For just about the same price,
athletes can Prolo their sports injuries away instead of anti-inflaming them
to stay. What is a Corticosteroid Anyway? The small glands that sit atop the kidneys, called the adrenal glands, are the glands that are responsible for secreting hormone that regulate the vital functions of the body that are needed to live in an ever-changing environment. These hormones are responsible for maintaining homeostasis (balance) so we can handle different stressors from the environment. The main hormones secreted by the adrenal gland are the corticosteroids.
The typical
corticosteroid is cortisol, also referred to as hydrocortisone. The effects of
corticosteroids are numerous and widespread. They influence carbohydrate,
protein, and lipid metabolism; electrolyte and water balance; and the
functions of the cardiovascular system, the kidney, skeletal muscle, the
nervous system, and the other organs and tissues. Furthermore, the
corticosteroids endow the person with the capacity to resist many types of
noxious stimuli and environmental changes.
For
instance, if a person eats an allergenic food, it is cortisol that keeps this
allergic reaction from not killing the person. Cortisol also helps keep blood
sugar up when a person has not eaten for a long time, like during a marathon
race. Naturally-occurring corticosteroids, like cortisol, are necessary for
proper bodily functioning, especially under stressful conditions. Using the main pharmacology text from many medical schools, Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Seventh Edition, you will see why it is our opinion that cortisone shots have essentially no role in the treatment of athletic injuries. "Cortisol and the synthetic analogs of cortisol have the capacity to prevent or suppress the development of the local heat, redness, swelling, and tenderness by which inflammation is recognized. At the microscopic level, they inhibit not only the early phenomena of the inflammatory process, edema, fibrin deposition, capillary dilatation, migration of leukocytes into the inflamed area, and phagocytic activity, but also the later manifestations of capillary proliferation, Fibroblast proliferation, deposition of collagen, and still later cicatrization (healing by scar formation)."
What modern
medicine forgets is that steroid therapy is, at best, just palliative therapy—it
reduces inflammation and reduces symptoms, but the underlying cause of the
disease remains. This is why natural medicine physicians and
Prolotherapists
use very little cortisone in their practices. Cortisone, Prednisone, Celestone,
and the rest of the synthetic analogues do nothing to repair the damaged
tissue. They, in fact, damage the tissues themselves by making them weaker. |
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The information on this website is presented
as information only and not a self-help
guide NOR AS SPECIFIC HEALTH
RECOMMENDATIONS. Never alter or change your
health management or begin any new health
plans without first consulting your personal
health care provider. Some
statements on this site regarding the value
of nutritional supplements have not been
evaluated by the FDA.
Caring Medical
and Rehabilitation Services 715 Lake Street
Suite 600 Oak Park IL, 60301 |
Prolotherapy