Video Transcription

Can Prolotherapy get rid of bursitis?

That’s a very good question. When I first came here and I was working with Dr Hemwall, obviously he was the guru, he said to me, “Ross, every time the orthopedist diagnoses bursitis, it’s wrong. Almost every time.” He said, “Anyone who has bursitis, true bursitis, the bursa, which is a fluid filled sack, when that thing is inflamed, the pain, on a scale of 1 to 10, is like 100.” Just you as the doctor, going near it, the person won’t let you touch it, even touching the clothing on the bursa is painful. If you don’t have pain to that degree, I’m telling you, you don’t have bursitis. In the course of 18 years, I’ve only had about two cases of true bursitis. Guess what I did? I did inject a little bit of steroids and boom, it got rid of it. That’s a bad kind of inflammation.

Most of the time when people have, “bursitis,” it’s not a true bursitis. Let me give you an example. There’s a bone on the hip, it’s called the greater trochanter. The greater trochanter is tender on the person and it’s causing pain. But, it could be in the shoulder, anywhere where there’s a bone. Whenever there’s a bone and there’s a muscle or a tendon over it, the body, so that there’s not the rubbing, has a fluid filled sack. True bursitis is where that bursa becomes all enflamed. If it truly does happen the area is red, it’s inflamed, it’s hot, and the pain, on a scale of 1 to 10, is 100. One time that happened to me with my Achilles tendon. I had an Achilles bursitis, so I know exactly what it feels like. In that particular situation, I did put ice on it, I did take anti-inflammatories and in a day or two, I was fine. But, most tenderness on the bone is because of the tendon. The tendon is degenerated, the tendon is weakened, or the tendon is torn. Or, the muscle origin on the bone is degenerated or it’s torn. The treatment in those situations is Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy to a tear, a degenerated area, or a weakened area is going to strengthen it.

I’m kind of answering the question but not answering it. True bursitis is very, very rare. A good test is, if you touch the area and it really feels the same temperature as the other side, I’m telling you, you don’t have bursitis. Getting steroid shots for a degenerated muscle origin or tendon is going to degenerate it more. So, don’t do it! Go to a Prolotherapy doctor, get some Prolotherapy where it is hurting. It’ll strengthen the area and then the pain will go away.