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Prolotherapy
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Prolotherapy Basics
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How
Does Prolotherapy Work?
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Why
Does Prolotherapy Work?
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How
Prolotherapy Helps?
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Indications - Contraindications
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Introduction to Prolotherapy
● Why Get Prolotherapy?
● What is Prolotherapy?
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How Does Prolotherapy Work?
● Are You A Prolo Candidate?
● Ligament Reconstruction
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How Safe Is Prolotherapy?
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Finding a Prolotherapy doctor
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When Prolo May Not
Work
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20 Questions - Prolotherapy
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The History of Prolotherapy
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Curing Chronic Pain
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Sclerotherapy?
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Turning to Prolotherapy
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Prolotherapy and Chronic
Pain
● Proof Prolotherapy is Working
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Creating Collagen
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How To
Support Treatment
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Prolotherapy
In The News
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Update Your Listing |
 ANKLE
FUSION
Ross Hauser, M.D.
It is very
common for
Prolotherapy physician to see patients who continue to have pain
after surgery. Usually overlooked as the cause of this post-surgery pain is that
the surgery itself may have caused a
ligament
injury or the surgery may not have repaired the
ligament injury. When performing
surgery, the
ligaments
are
stretched
and pulled in order to gain access to the
joint.
In 1992, Dr. J. Albert and associates looked at what occurred in the
ankle
during ankle surgery. What they found was that when the joint was opened in the
clinically recommended range "complications of pin bending, excessive ligament
strain, and bony destruction did occur." Anyone with post-surgery pain should be
checked for
ligament injury.
Prolotherapy
to the injured ligaments will eliminate the pain in such a case.
Ankle fusion may provide some temporary pain relief, at least for a
while. Imagine how much motion your ankle normally has. What is going to happen
when all of that motion is lost? Other joints around that fused joint must move
more in order to compensate for the fused joint. This will cause excessive
strain to these joints or the joints around them. The long-term outlook for
fusion patients, no matter which joint, is long-term pain and disability. The
reason why people succumb to these operations is that they feel they have no
other options. There is an alternative to ankle fusion—Prolotherapy. For that
matter, there is an alternative to almost any
orthopedic surgery for pain. That
option is
Prolotherapy.
Ankle
fusions typically have high rates of nonunion. This means that up to 30 percent
of fusions fail, meaning that the bones do not hold together. In one study of 42
patients, the overall complication rate was 55 percent, including nonunion,
fractures, pin-site infections, and hardware problems. Yet surprisingly, 85
percent of the people were satisfied with the results. People, we are setting
our standards way too low! An operation has a 55 percent complication rate, yet
we are satisfied? The most common long-term consequence of ankle fusion is
arthritis in the joint below the ankle, called the subtalar joint. Guess how
long it takes to become arthritic? It does not take long. The average time is
about four to five years. Most studies show that after arthrodesis (ankle
fusion) the subtalar joint is significantly arthritic in 50 percent of the
cases. All that an ankle fusion does is cause
arthritis to travel from one joint
to the other. On top of that, the fused joint can no longer be moved at all.
One study
with a follow-up time of 12.3 years showed that 67 percent of people had pain in
this subtalar joint and that 75 percent of patients had to wear special footwear
after ankle fusion. The author (1) noted, "In conclusion, patients with ankle
fusion often have persistent trouble; therefore technical and clinical
development of total ankle joint replacements seems to be indicated." Can you
believe this one? The orthopedist's solution to the ankle fusion failure is
"let's come up with another operation" so the sequence of events will continue:
ligament sprain,
RICE
treatment, mild
NSAIDS,
then stronger and stronger
NSAIDs, leading to
cortisone shots,
then arthroscopy, ankle fusion, and, finally, ankle replacement. We think not!
How about just doing Prolotherapy after the initial injury? It is much simpler.
Anyone starting out with the RICE treatment is most likely going to end up later
in life with several masked people around them with sharp blades. If this is
what you want, follow the standard sports medicine protocols. If not, run to a
Prolotherapy doctor, if you are still able. Your joints depend on it.
The above
scenario does not even take into account the dramatic gait abnormalities that
occur with ankle fusion. Remember, fusion of the knee, back, or ankle means that
the joint can never be moved normally again. At minimum, most of the motion in
the subtalar joint will be lost. In regards to ankle fusion, the velocity of the
gait will be much slower and the length of the stride will decrease. Other
joints around the fused area, as already noted, will have to contract a lot
more. This causes the energy expenditure of walking to increase dramatically.
1. Ahberg,
A. Late results of ankle fusion. Acta. Orthop. Scand. 1981; 52:103-105.
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