When you are in pain, the thing that matters most is… getting out of pain. Life basically stops when we are in pain. Severe, chronic pain robs you of vitality, joy, and even the ability and desire to work and survive. As a great secondary goal, many have the desire to stop pain without dangerous or addictive medicaton. There are a significant number of people who have chronic joint or muscle pain that simply does not get much better with the usual pain relieving drug therapies. What do you do then?
Pain that does not respond well to NSAIDS, cortisone shots or other pain relievers is often a common but little known type of pain called ‘neurogenic’ (originating in the nerve cells themselves) pain. This type of pain is theorized to be involved in up to 80% of chronic musculoskeltal pain cases. It can be originally from an injury, but continues and becomes chronic as the nerve itself is damaged. Medicine has had little to offer to people with this kind of pain, until now. Our clinic is happy to offer a gentle, nontoxic alternative to conventional pain management, Neural Prolotherapy, also known as Lyftoght Perineural injection technique.
Neural Prolotherapy (NPT) is an exciting advance in Regenerative Medicine used to treat neuropathic pain in a many musculoskeletal injuries and pain conditions. Neural Prolotherapy is also known as Neurofascial Prolotherapy, Subcutaneous Prolotherapy, or the Lyftogt technique. Neural Prolotherapy is the injection of a medical-grade, mildly alkaline dextrose or mannitol solution just below the skin to promote healing of injured nerves and restoration of tissue function. This gentle therapy is surprisingly effective even in long term and severe pain cases.
Case Studies, Patients of Dr. Sally Daughtrey ND and Dr. Christopher Lawinski MD, Vitality Integrative Medicine Clinic
Carol, 67, suffered debilitating hip, leg and sciatica pain for over 12 years after a failed surgery created scar tissue in her lower back. Carol went from an active, full time elementary school teacher career to early retirement due to inability to perform her job. She had tried cortisone shots without success and took ibuprofen with opiates added daily, with minimal benefit. Physical therapy kept her from needing a walker, but could not relieve the pain, which flared up with almost any movement of her lower body. Carol was also depressed due to pain, and often did not leave the house for days at a time. At her first procedure, Carol cried while being positioned on the treatment table. She ‘endured’ the injections with grace, but did not have any real hope of being helped. When she was asked to get up and try to move around, at first she could not believe that she was able to walk without starting up the pain. The pain relief was about 90% and lasted several days. When it started to return, Carol came in right away to ‘get it fixed’. Gradually, her treatments were needed further and further apart. After 8 treatments, Carol is now pain free (unless she does not do her daily stretches, whereupon she gets some sciatica). We are here for her in case she needs us again, but her last treatment was over 6 months ago!
Kimo, 28, limped into the clinic warily. The husband of one of Dr Daughtrey’s cancer patients, Kimo had been the supportive caregiver, but had never allowed himself to been a patient. That abruptly changed when he woke up with a sharp, stabbing pain running down his inner leg from his groin to his ankle. A construction worker, Kimo knew he had to get this pain ‘fixed’ or he would lose his job. Kimo had a tender, swollen lump on the inside of his upper thigh the size and shape of his thumb. After 1 treatment, the pain was gone, the lump was much softer, and Kimo walked out and went back to work. Two weeks later, he worked overtime and awoke the next day with the lump and pain again. Once again, the less wary but still reluctant construction worker found himself in the clinic being treated. After this treatment, the pain went away but only about 60%, so he came back in the next day for a ‘touch up’ which stopped all the pain. Kimo has had 4 treatments so far, the last one 3 months ago. As long as he does not reinjure himself, he remains pain free!