I suffer from lumbar facet syndrome and have tried everything: building core strength, PT, nerve ablation, cortisone. I have scoliosis and my issue is structural. I went to a place today who felt that stem cells would be a good option but I dont have $2800 since insurance wont cover it. They seem to scoff at prolotherapy (prolozone) but Ive heard from others it can be very effective at joint reconstruction, etc. Im going to give it a shot as it isnt very expensive and very low risk. Anyone on here ever try it with success?
I had multiple procedures done on both knees and both shoulders. It worked great, but I'm dealing with major arthritis and other issues from years of sports abuse, and they didn't get me quite back to where I wanted to be...which was being able to run for miles on end, throw down in the dojo, and move big iron like I used to. I might have simply lacked the patience to wait long enough to let them do their thing - there is at least some anecdotal and radiography evidenced that prolozone does promote cartilage regeneraton, but it's reasonable that that kind of healing takes time and I decided to bite the bullet and pop for stem cells and PRP in shoulders and knees. Honestly, the verdict is still out on whether that's going to turn out to be more effective than the prolozone, but it was definitely way more expensive.
The immediate pain relief you see in the youtube videos (there are dozens by now if not hundreds - look up testimonials for Dr Robert Rowen on youtube) is real. How long it lasts, and the number of procedures you might need, depends on the extent of your injury, general health, and what you're expecting to resume. For somebody who just wants to remain mobile, go up and down stairs, play golf, etc, I would recommend prolozone without hesitation, and I would strongly encourage anybody faced with joint replacement to try prolozone first. It's (compared to joint replacement) cheap, almost totally painless, and virtually risk free. Only down side is (like stem cells) it's not covered by insurance, so the expense is out of your own pocket.
If you want to do more research, hit up youtube for Doctors Frank Schallenberger and Robert Rowen - they were the early promoters of this when I researched it and they're the ones that convinced me to try it. If you just search on prolozone, you can see a lot of recent activity. It's used for all kinds of stuff - I just focused on joint pain for my research.
A word of caution - this is natureopathic medicine, and like chiropractic medicine, it has it's share of quacks. I was fortunate to find a good chiropractor when I became desperate enough to try one, so I know the science is sound and the treatments are beneficial if you have a good one. Same with prolozone.
My final comment is this. If the stem cell/PRP treatments turn out to not be as effective as I hope, I will resume prolozone. I think that's a pretty good testament.
lunchbeast
