One of the reasons we are so passionate about healing chronic pain and sports injuries is because we know pain takes more than a physical toll on a person’s life. In most cases people are mentally and emotionally affected as the pain creeps into all aspects of life. We recently heard from the father of a 14-year-old baseball and soccer player, JM, who was treated successfully with Prolotherapy. Here’s a little of what his dad had to say after Prolotherapy healed his son’s knee:
“I can’t tell you what a difference this has made in his life. When he was injured, he wasn’t socializing very much… he was sort of hanging around the house because when he gets together with his friends, they play ball… and he couldn’t do that. Now? He spends hours and hours of each day playing ball with his buds – his mental state is 100% better than it was last fall. He is his old-self again. Caring Medical and Prolotherapy rule!”
What a great testimony to what living truly pain-free means to someone! Let’s take a look JM’s story.
Prolotherapy for Knee Pain
JM first came to Caring Medical in January of 2012. He had injured his knee just four months earlier while playing baseball. As he was coming down from a throw he felt three pops in his knee and that’s when the pain began. Soon after that incident he had chondroplasty knee surgery to remove loose cartilage. Unfortunately for JM he still struggled with knee pain and was unable to play baseball the way he wanted, he was also concerned about being able to play soccer. Our Prolotherapist, Dr. Ross Hauser, examined JM’s knee and noted anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) instability and loose cartilage. He informed JM and his father that Prolotherapy would indeed help and estimated JM would need three to four treatments. JM was eager to get started and received 30 Prolotherapy injections with a human growth hormone (HGH) additive to his left knee. He left with specific instructions on what supplements to take and what types of activities to engage in to promote healing.
Exactly one month later JM returned with his father for a second Prolotherapy treatment. He reported good results as he was able to play some baseball with a little bit of running. He was no longer sitting the bench at games and overall felt about 50% better. Dr. Hauser recommended the same dextrose Prolotherapy treatment but also recommended Bone Marrow Prolotherapy to address the loose cartilage in JM’s knee. So at his second treatment JM received both dextrose Prolotherapy and Bone Marrow Prolotherapy to his left knee. JM left with specific instructions to continue playing baseball but ensure proper recovery and time off if the pain started to return.
Six weeks later JM returned with great results. He reported that his knee had been doing well, and he only noticed pain after a game two weeks earlier. He ran several hard sprints and told his dad afterward that the knee felt great during running. He had a third dextrose and Bone Marrow Prolotherapy treatment and left hopeful that his knee was healed.
Back to Baseball, Soccer, and Life
JM not only experienced healing, he experienced a fantastic baseball season. Here’s an update we just received from his dad:
“We have been really stoked about the condition of his knee. . . .he played the entire season of baseball for his high school freshman team this year. We didn’t know what to expect… that is, whether he would just be able to “play”, or whether he’d be able to play at the high level he has played at over the years before his injury. He not only has been able to play, but he was able to compete at a level where he was his team’s MVP. Fielding, running, hitting… he has done all of that and felt no pain.
He has been playing club baseball for the past month or so. The difference between high school ball and club ball is that, when the club team plays, we typically play 2 games in a day, and if we are in a tournament, 2 games a day over the course of 2 or 3 consecutive days. [JM] has played, played well, and has not experienced any pain at all.
Over the course of the baseball season, we have discussed whether he was going to play soccer his sophomore year (in addition to baseball. Soccer is a winter sport here). Given his ability to play baseball pain free, he is going to give it a go. We feel like this will be the biggest test of his progress. Playing baseball certainly puts stress on his knee, but nothing like soccer will. We will keep you posted on how that goes.”
We are thrilled to hear JM’s progress and we are confident he will have a successful soccer season. Prolotherapy is a much better option than surgery for a young athlete because it’s conservative, it keeps them active and it allows them to return to sport in a short amount of time. For more on Prolotherapy for sports injuries, contact us at 708-848-7789 or drhauser@gmail.com.