Modern Medicine’s Approach to Overuse Injury RICE and NSAIDs: Although an overuse injury can result from a repetitive occupational activity, it is most typically seen among athletes. The usual recommendation in the traditional sports medicine community is to stop whatever activity is resulting in the chronic pain and to start the RICE protocol, as well as taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Aspirin or Ibuprofen. Although RICE treatment, which stands for stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, does reduce pain for a while, it usually returns, which leads to chronic nagging injuries. In fact, RICE treatment can actually hinder the healing process rather than aid it.
Steroid Injections: Another standard practice of modern medicine is to inject steroids into the painful area. However, in the long run both the use of NSAIDS and steroids do more damage than good. Cortisone shots and anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to produce short-term pain benefit, but both result in long-term loss of function and even more chronic pain by actually inhibiting the healing process of soft tissues and accelerating cartilage degeneration. Plus, long-term use of these drugs can lead to other sources of chronic pain,allergies and leaky gut syndrome.
Surgery: When all else fails, patients who experience chronic pain from an overuse injury may be referred to a surgeon. Unfortunately, surgery often makes the problem worse. Surgeons will use technology as a diagnostic tool, which does not always properly diagnose the pain source. Decisions to remove cartilage tissue will most commonly result in arthritis.
The Natural Medicine Approach to Overuse Injury
Everyone is familiar with the experience of sore muscles after intense physical activity. The same degeneration and disruption of tissues that occurs in muscles after strenuous exercise is also found in tendons. Sports injuries that linger for more than a couple of weeks may well have a connective tissue deficiency component. The pain experienced by the overuse or injury as well as its duration may be due to a deficiency in the amount of collagen and proteoglycans being made, both of which are needed to rebuild injured tissue.
Prolotherapy for Overuse Injuries: The natural medicine approach to overuse injuries is Prolotherapy, which stimulates tissues to make more collagen and proteoglycans, which in turn will rebuild the injured tissue, resulting in a stronger, thicker ligament or tendon. Prolotherapy is administered directly to the injured areas in order to stimulate the fibroblasts that make the new connective tissue. Once an individual’s ligaments and tendons are stronger and thicker, activity can actually be increased rather restricted, as is usually the case with the traditional modern medicine approach.
Neural Therapy for Overuse Injuries: Another type of natural medicine treatment that has been very beneficial with this condition is Neural Therapy, a gentle healing technique developed in Germany in which local anesthetics are injected into autonomic ganglia, peripheral nerves, scars, glands, acupuncture points, trigger points, skin and other tissues. Neural Therapy optimizes autonomic nervous function by helping calm nerve pain and enhancing the healing of neuritis, or the inflammation of a nerve, a condition often observed with overuse injuries.
Natural Medicine Therapies: A wide range of factors can affect the ability of connective tissue to heal, such as overall health status, diet, nutritional deficiencies or excesses, pH and lactate concentration as well as metabolic and cell turnover rates of connective tissue. As a result, a variety of tests is also conducted as needed on an individual suffering from an overuse injury, including hormonal testing, comprehensive stool analysis to look for intestinal dysbiosis and nutrient absorption problems in order to assure that proper digestion and nutrient absorption is taking place. In addition, specific nutritional and dietary needs would be assessed using Diet Typing.
In summary, overuse injuries require multiple treatments to address the various issues involved, including a potential connective tissue deficiency. Each patient that visits Caring Medical receives a thorough examination by our Prolotherapy doctor, Dr. Ross Hauser. After listening to the patient and carefully considering all factors, Dr. Hauser is able to recommend the best course of treatment.
The chronic pain aspect of overuse injuries is treated by both Neural Therapy and Prolotherapy. The safest and most effective natural medicine treatment for repairing tendon, ligament and cartilage damage is Prolotherapy. In simple terms, Prolotherapy stimulates the body to repair painful areas. It does so by inducing a mild inflammatory reaction in the weakened ligaments and cartilage. Since the body heals by inflammation, Prolotherapy stimulates healing.
Prolotherapy offers the most curative results in treating chronic pain. It effectively eliminates pain because it attacks the source: the fibro-osseous junction, an area rich in sensory nerves. What’s more, the tissue strengthening and pain relief stimulated by Prolotherapy is permanent!
Caring Medical is a full time Prolotherapy doctor’s office. We have successfully treated all of the conditions we write about. This is why patients travel from across the country and internationally to be treated by our Prolotherapy physician Dr. Ross Hauser. The difference is in the care, technique, and experience you get with Dr. Hauser and team at Caring Medical.
The treatment regimens suggested here are based on the experience of Caring Medical. They do not apply to every case or condition. A person using these recommendations without the aid of a personal physician does so at their own risk.
This information is provided for informational purposes only. It is essential to have your condition evaluated by your own personal physician.
For an appointment with Ross Hauser, M.D., please call 708-848-7789. or email us at scheduling@caringmedical.com.
