Cutting edge Non-Surgical Pain Relief is now being offered in Gilbert, AZ and the surrounding communities of Chandler, Queen Creek, and Mesa, AZ by Atlas Health Medical Group.
Is Surgery the right choice?
Deciding to undergo surgery can be one of the hardest decisions people have to make in life. Many patients have been recommended to have surgery after consulting with an Orthopedic Specialist without any other options being discussed. This leaves the patient anxious and apprehensive about their health and future quality of life. Before deciding on surgery, I recommend considering a few factors and asking many questions to ensure you are making the correct decision. The first thing that should be recognized before consulting with an Orthopedic Surgeon, is their point of view. Surgeons treat with surgery. Basically meaning that if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. Secondly, what does the research say about the clinical outcomes of that specific type of surgery? This is extremely important to know and a must ask question. Not all surgeries are equal, and in fact sometimes surgery makes no difference at all. For example, Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee has no better clinical outcomes that placebo surgery or physical therapy alone. The same thing can be said for Arthroscopic Meniscectomy, as placebo surgery had the same clinical outcomes as the actual surgery. Finally, I always encourage patients to ask their surgeon why they have the condition at hand. If you can fully understand why an musculoskeletal condition developed, than you can understand how to correct and treat it. For many Orthopedic Surgeons, patient education before surgery is glossed over or delegated to their nurse or PA to cover it with the patient.
A Case Example of Surgical Failure
A classic example illustrating this point is Tiger Woods. Playing golf at the world class level takes a tremendous amount of practice and involves hitting thousands upon thousands of balls at the driving range and on the golf course. All the practice creates a lot of wear and tear on the back as the golf swing involves creating rotational torque through the hips on the downswing for power. This force applied to the lower back sprains the ligaments and eventually creates ligament laxity or loose ligaments. Tiger Woods eventually developed chronic pain in his iliolumbar, sacroiliac, supraspinous, and the intertransverse ligaments that created spinal joint mobility.
The chronic lumbar joint mobility created undue force on the disc that eventually herniated. His disc moved posteriorly and put pressure on his spinal nerve at that segmental level causing inflammation and chronic pain. To treat the pain he was experiencing, a microdiscectomy was performed in 2014. This provided Tiger with pain relief and he began practicing heavily again to return to the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, his pain returned later in the same year and another microdiscectomy was performed. Once again he resumed training after the surgery and prepared for another return to competitive golf. Sadly, the surgery failed again and his pain resumed once more. Finally, Tiger Woods underwent spinal fusion to completely immobilize the joint and has has now begun another return to golf. If Tiger’s doctors only understood that the cause of the initial back pain was joint hyper-mobility and ligament laxity, he could have possibly avoided 3 surgeries and added years more of golf to his career.
Non-Surgical Alternatives
Prolotherapy
Proliferative Therapy or more commonly called Prolotherapy was the original regenerative injection therapy. The treatment involves injecting an irritant (Dextrose) into the joint, ligament, or tendon in order to re-stimulate the bodies natural inflammatory and healing mechanisms. This provides non-surgical joint reconstruction, connective tissue strengthening and increased functionality to the area being treated.
Benefits:
- Strengthens Ligaments, Tendons, Joints
- Pain Relief
- Non-Invasive
- Non-Surgical
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is a relatively new treatment for pain management and continues to be supported by new clinical research in orthopedic and sports medicine. The treatment involves taking a sample of the patient’s own blood and then extracting the platelets from the other components of the blood. Once the platelets are extracted and concentrated, they then can be injected back into the patient at their site of injury or pain.
Benefits:
- Strengthens Ligaments, Tendons, Cartilage, and Connective Tissue
- Utilizes your Natural Growth Factors
- Pain Relief
- Quicker Recovery Time
- Non-Surgical
- Non-Invasive
- Non-Opioid
Athletes that have used Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) include:
- Kobe Bryant
- Stephen Curry
- Russell Westbrook
- Dez Bryant
- Peyton Manning
- Rafael Nadal
- Adrian Peterson
- Sam Bradford
- Steven Strasburg
- Cody Garbrandt
- Tyron Woodley
- Luke Rockhold
Regenerative Injection Therapy
PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma / high dose PRP / PRF / Prolotherapy are all new cutting-edge options for orthopedic pain relief. The process works by injecting regenerative solutions into the site of pain or injury for non-surgical joint repair.
Depending on where the Orthobiologic solution is injected, they may activate and recruit native stem cells through protein, growth factor and RNA signaling reactions into the treatment area for connective tissue healing of tendons, ligaments and cartilage as a downstream effect (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). This unique feature may allow them to repair the damaged tissue they are recruited to. The growth factors from the platelet cells also contribute to modulating local inflammation, increasing blood flow to the damaged area, removing damaged tissue, and laying down new collagen. After the treatment has initiated a regenerative response to the damaged area, many patients gradually begin to notice increased function and pain reduction as structural integrity is improved or restored through the healing process.
Benefits:
- Supports Healing of Ligaments, Tendons, Cartilage, and Connective Tissue
- Pain Relief
- Fast Recovery Time compared to some surgeries
- Non-Surgical
- Non-Invasive
Common areas and conditions that may improve with regenerative medicine.
Shoulder:
- Arthritis
- Bursitis
- Frozen shoulder
- Impingement
- Rotator Cuff Injury
Back:
- Muscle or ligament strain
- SI Joint Dysfunction
- Muscle Spasm
Hip:
- Bursitis
- Hip labral tear
- Tendinitis
- Arthritis
- Pinched Nerve
Knee:
- MCL injury / partial tear
- LCL injury / partial tear
- Torn meniscus
- Knee bursitis
- Tendonitis
- Iliotibial band syndrome
- Arthritis
- For more info check out Knee Pain A to Z; The Patients Guide to Success
Elbow:
- Bursitis
- Golfer’s elbow
- Osteoarthritis
- Sprains and strains
- Tendinitis
- Tennis elbow
Foot/Ankle:
- Achilles tendinitis
- Bursitis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Sprained ankle
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome
Deciding upon surgery can be a very difficult choice. Remember to always ask the important questions and make sure to get a second opinion. There are Non-Surgical options available with regenerative medicine treatments such as Prolotherapy, and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP). These options can be effective and deliver pain relief with minimal downtime compared to surgery. For more information about Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma, Atlas Health, pain management please contact us at: 480-648-1534
Free, 15-Minute Consultation
Complementary Knee Pain Guide
How to Eliminate Knee Pain and Enjoy a Healthy Active Lifestyle Again, without Surgery
Facebook Knee Pain Support Group
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Stop Suffering and Live the Pain Free Life YOU intended Today!
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are for educational purposes only. Statements are not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Always consult with your physician about your medical care options.
