My name is Timothy L. Speciale, D.O. I am an Osteopathic Physician who specializes in Non-Surgical Orthopaedic Medicine and Anti-Aging/Regenerative Medicine. I have been actively practicing Prolotherapy since 1992. I have had the good fortune to have been trained and treated by Dr. Gustav Hemwall who was the leading Prolotherapist in the world.
At age 19, I tore my medial and lateral meniscus (cartilage) of my left knee playing basketball. The chief of Orthopaedics performed a medial and lateral menisectomy on my left knee. I basically have been walking around bone on bone for the past 38 years.
I continued to lead a very active life including running, basketball, racquetball and tennis without pain or limitations. Approximately 25-30 years post injury, my left knee began to swell excessively. I would personally drain 120 ml of fluid off of my knee two to three times per week. I saw three Orthopaedic specialists who all wanted to perform Arthroscopic surgery and considered an eventual total knee replacement.
I decided to seek expert advice from Dr. Hemwall. He treated me with Prolotherapy. Dr. Hemwall treated my tibial collateral ligament, coronary ligament, anterior cruciate ligament, and pes anserinus: sartorius, gracilis tendon, and semitendinosus tendon. I improved about 80 percent.
About three months later, I was then treated by Dr. Thomas Ravin at a training course. He treated my posterolateral knee which included the fibula collateral ligament and the arcuate ligament.
My knee has responded quite well. My knee has full extension and I have only lost about 10 degrees of flexion. I have no pain. I get treated with therapy boosters about two-three times per year as a precaution. I thank God for Dr. Hemwall’s persistence in positively changing so many lives.
Like Dr. Hauser, I have personally performed Prolotherapy on literally thousands of cases with incredible results and have very few side effects. I encourage everyone to at least investigate Prolotherapy as a first line of treatment.
COMMENTS ON CERVICAL PAIN
Many patients, including myself, have had multiple treatment modalities including osteopathic manipulation, chiropractic, physical therapy (including hands-on physical therapy, traction, ultrasound, and electrical muscle stimulation and TENS), accupuncture, Pilates, yoga and cervical epidural injections.
I personally have been performing manual therapy since 1976. It is an extremely physical job including pushing and pulling, even though I use proper body mechanics. I have been involved in athletics since childhood including baseball, basketball and I have a black belt in karate. I tell you all of this as a side note that I personally have experienced moderate to severe cervical pain and right-sided radiculopathy on and off for many years. My profession and athletics have all contributed to cervical somatic dysfunction with ligamentous instability.
I have been treated successfully with Prolotherapy to my cervical spine by Dr. Tom Ravin and Dr. Mark Cantieri (co-authors of The Principles of Prolotherapy) and Dr. John Finkenstadt. If one decides to have treatment of their cervical spine, it is imperative that they receive their treatment by an experienced Prolotherapist. Periodically, I may need “booster” injections because I continue to aggravate my condition.
The blessing I’ve experienced with Prolotherapy is having no side effects and never having any down time…I have been able to continue work full-time with a very active practice in musculoskeletal and anti-aging medicine.
Many individuals have had unnecessary cervical surgery because cervical radiculopathies were mistakenly diagnosed as herniated cervical discs, when, in actuality, their diagnosis was cervical ligamentous instability.
It is extremely imperative to have a thorough physical examination including deep palpation which involves putting joints under various loads to determine if the ligaments/tendon junctions are compromised.
As a final note, proper body mechanics are discussed at every visit. Improper posture at the lumbosacral junction places abnormal stress to the cervical thoracic spine.
Timothy L. Speciale, D.O.
8612 Main Street, Suite 1
Williamsville, NY 14221
Phone: 716.626.6301
Fax: 716.626.6337
specialeoffice@yahoo.com
Letter from Barbara Young
Dear Dr. Hauser,
I am happy to write you a letter regarding my experiences with Prolotherapy. I have reached the point of being “mad as hell and not being willing to take it anymore.” In fact, I have been contacting people to see about starting a lobby group to fight for some of the proven “alternative” medical protocols. It would seem that you have already done this. I feel that it is criminal to use very expensive surgery to correct situations that could be much more economically handled. I would think that the insurance companies would be interested in this as well. Knowing that there is no such thing as the free lunch, and that we all pay for these things in one way or another, it seems that we have a very corrupt system.
MY OWN EXPERIENCES
Forty years ago, I fell down a flight of concrete stairs and injured my back and sciatic nerve. I was put in the hospital, straightened somewhat and sent home with a back brace and constant pain. I had a baby and two other children under the age of six. I returned to my home in Dearborn, MI and contacted an osteopathic physician that I had had some treatments with previously. He suggested that I try a new treatment that he had been at a conference to learn about. It consisted of a series of injections of sugar water to stimulate the body to heal itself. I was willing to try it and it worked—no more pain!
I moved back to the Chicago area and experienced pain in my back again due to improper lifting. Because Prolotherapy works and it had been seven years, I didn’t immediately think of trying to find a practitioner in IL and went to an orthopedic doctor. Of course, part of the reason is that there are many and they are covered by insurance.
I was talking to a friend and she told me about a treatment she had had on an ankle by a physician named Dr. Hemwall in Oak Park, IL. I immediately realized that she was talking about the same treatment I had had and made an appointment. It worked, No more pain!
Some years later, I was experiencing tendonitis and this time I called Dr. Hemwall and he fixed it. Soon after that, I had something else that was a problem and thought of Dr. Hemwall in Oak Park.
I discovered that Dr. Hemwall had retired and his practice had been taken over by Dr. Hauser. I had a little reservation, but went and was cured again. I think I had two treatments with Dr. Hauser.
Twelve years passed and I began having some orthopedic problems. I was treated with cortisone and therapy which worked until I got bursitis of the hip. It persisted and I was treated with Celebrex and physical therapy. Because of a life threatening case of the hives, I was taken off the Celebrex and the pain came back. I was offered more cortisone and suddenly thought of Prolotherapy. I felt stupid because I had not thought of it first. In any case, I decided to get Prolotherapy and the pain was lessened 80% with the first treatment. I went back for another visit, this time for a pinched nerve and some knee pain as well—not related. I was treated and pretty much cured. I shall probably have to have another treatment on my knee. The pain is caused by osteoarthritis. I have an uneven gait caused by residual polio so am prone to these types of problems.
Over a period of forty years, I have been treated five times by three different practitioners. I can gratefully say that it has always worked.
Sincerely,
Barbara Young