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Fantastic
Findings
Dextrose Prolotherapy for Unresolved Low Back Pain:
A Retrospective Case Series Study
Ross A. Hauser, MD
& Marion A. Hauser, MS, RD
Objective: To investigate the outcomes of patients undergoing
Hackett-Hemwall dextrose Prolotherapy treatment for chronic low back pain.
Design: One hundred forty-five patients, who
had been in pain an average of four years and ten months, were
treated quarterly with Hackett-Hemwall dextrose Prolotherapy.
This included a subset of 55 patients who were told by their medical
doctor(s) that there were no other treatment options for their
pain and a subset of 26 patients who were told by their doctor(s)
that surgery was their only option. Patients were contacted an
average of 12 months following their last Prolotherapy session
and asked questions regarding their levels of pain, physical and
psychological symptoms and activities of daily living, before
and after their last Prolotherapy treatment.
Results: In these 145 low backs, pain levels
decreased from 5.6 to 2.7 after Prolotherapy; 89% experienced
more than 50% pain relief with Prolotherapy; more than 80% showed
improvements in walking and exercise ability, anxiety, depression
and overall disability; 75% percent were able to completely stop
taking pain medications. The decrease in pain reached statistical
significance at the p<.000001 for the 145 low backs, including
the subset of patients who were told there was no other treatment
options for their pain and those who were told surgery was their
only treatment option.
Conclusion: In this retrospective study on the
use of Hackett-Hemwall dextrose Prolotherapy, patients who presented
with over four years of unresolved low back pain were shown to
improve their pain, stiffness, range of motion, and quality of
life measures even 12 months subsequent to their last Prolotherapy
session. This pilot study shows that Prolotherapy is a treatment
that should be considered and further studied for people suffering
with unresolved low back pain.
Journal of Prolotherapy. 2009;3:145-155.
KEYWORDS: alternative to low back surgery, ligament injury, low back pain, Prolotherapy. |
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