Prolo/Myo

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

So, in the new R&I, there's an article touting the "miracle" tendon restoring powers of prolo- and myotherapies. While the former sounds as if it has remarkable potential, it also sounds potentially dangerous, and not necessarily objectively proven to work. The latter seems to be more related to short-term pain control.

 

Does anyone have any experience with either of these treatments, or have you heard anything about them? Or even any thoughts on the article or insight you might have into the processes.

 

Pretty fascinating stuff, for anyone whose connective tissues have gotten the hurt from the ravages of craggin'.

[willstrickland]

Can you give the full name for this "prolo" thing? I don't read the R&I shizz, and would like to do some research.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Oh, oops. It's "prolotherapy" and "myotherapy". Seems to be more of a natural medicine thing, but not excessively fruity.

[willstrickland]

From prolotherapy.com:

 

Prolotherapy is helpful for what conditions?

 

The treatment is useful for many different types of musculoskeletal pain, including arthritis, back pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, unresolved whiplash injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic tendonitis, partially torn tendons, ligaments and cartilage, degenerated or herniated discs, TMJ and sciatica.

 

What is prolotherapy?

 

First, it is important to understand what the word prolotherapy itself means. "Prolo" is short for proliferation, because the treatment causes the proliferation (growth, formation) of new ligament tissue in areas where it has become weak.

 

Ligaments are the structural "rubber bands" that hold bones to bones in joints. Ligaments can become weak or injured and may not heal back to their original strength or endurance. This is largely because the blood supply to ligaments is limited, and therefore healing is slow and not always complete. To further complicate this, ligaments also have many nerve endings and therefore the person will feel pain at the areas where the ligaments are damaged or loose.

 

Tendons are the name given to tissue which connects muscles to bones, and in the same manner tendons may also become injured, and cause pain.

 

Prolotherapy uses a dextrose (sugar water) solution, which is injected into the ligament or tendon where it attaches to the bone. This causes a localized inflammation in these weak areas which then increases the blood supply and flow of nutrients and stimulates the tissue to repair itself.

 

Historical review shows that a version of this technique was first used by Hippocrates on soldiers with dislocated, torn shoulder joints. He would stick a hot poker into the joint, and it would then miraculously heal normally. Of course, we don’t use hot pokers today, but the principle is similar—get the body to repair itself, an innate ability that the body has.

 

How long will it take to complete a course of treatments?

 

The response to treatment varies from individual to individual, and depends upon one's healing ability. Some people may only need a few treatments while others may need 10 or more. The average number of treatments is 4-6 for an area treated. The best thing to do is get an evaluation by a trained physician to see if you are an appropriate candidate. Once you begin treatment, your doctor can tell better how you are responding and give you an accurate estimate.

[Jim]

I've researched this a bit in relation to a chronic ligament issue. There's only two guys you want to even consider going to in WA - Dorman - a kind odd guy in Federal Way, and another guy in Bellevue (sundquist - something like this - pm me & I could look it up). There are quite a few folks out there willing to inject you with anything but only a couple with a track record in WA.

 

Prolo has been around since the 50's but got a bad rap in the medical journals when someone died because of it - long story, bad treatment. Most often it involves a series of shots over a month to 6 weeks. C. Everrett Koop (ex-surgeon general) is a proponent of prolo - lots of info on his website.

 

Data that has been published shows stimulated production and lay down of collegen on injured ligaments - and clinic trials that show 80% improvement in patients. Which translates to some improvement in 80% of those tested. So no guarantees. And in WA it is not covered by insurance and expect to pay between $300 - $3000 depending on how many sessions, location of injury, etc. Physical therapy should also always go with prolo treatment. Check out the book "Prolo your pain away" by the Dr. Hauser. Interesting reading but he is also selling.

[layton]

Cool.

So whats "myotherapy" then? or is it just another name for prolotherapy.

[Chad_A]

I have a pal who injured a tendon in his elbow, while bouldering. He's just received his 4th dextrose injection last week, and has a couple to go. He's taking 3 more weeks off of climbing, and then, starting back slowly. We'll see what happens...stay tuned.

[Jim]

Never heard of mylotherapy. Basically for prolo they inject inert substances (dextrose or sailine solutions) into the ligament to iniate an immune response, which causes more collagen to be laid down. Ligaments are poorly supplied by blood vessels which is why they take so dang long to heal, or don't.

[Mtguide]

The term 'myo-' in anatomy refers to anything involving the muscles;and there's myelin,which is the sheath that covers nerves,especially those that activate muscle.I hadn't heard of mylotherapy,either;wonder if it refers to treatment to the muscle/tendon attachments?Anyone have a better explanation of what it is?

 

If this method actually works,I'm a prime candidate.

Edited March 12, 2004 by Mtguide

[willstrickland]

Myotherapy:

This specialized form of deep muscle massage is said to quickly relieve virtually any sort of muscle-related pain. Examples include strains, sprains, back pain, headache, repetitive motion disorders, fibromyalgia, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, and temporomandibular joint disorder. Also remedied by myotherapy are many conditions caused by muscle spasms, including certain types of foot and leg pain, incontinence, and abdominal pain.

Although mainstream physicians regard myotherapy as a plausible approach to treatment, it has only one major advocate: Bonnie Prudden, the person who originated it. It's also worth remembering that, despite an impressive collection of successful case studies, myotherapy has never been validated through controlled clinical trials.

 

Myotherapy is an offshoot of the trigger point injection therapy developed by Janet Travell, MD, the White House physician under President John F. Kennedy. Travell treated trigger points by injecting them with saline and the anesthetic drug procaine. While working with Desmond Tivy, another physician interested in trigger point injection, Bonnie Prudden found that simply pushing on a trigger point in a patient's stiff neck was sufficient to loosen it up. After similar results with two patients who had a sore elbow and shoulder, respectively, Prudden began refining the technique that was to become myotherapy.

 

Myotherapy is so simple that almost anyone can learn it; therapists usually train patients and family members to do it themselves. The trigger points are easy to find because they're relatively painful. You simply press each muscle with your finger at one-inch intervals until you hit a tender spot. You must then continue the pressure until it becomes painful, releasing it as soon as the pain begins. Once the point has released, simple exercises serve to keep the muscle relaxed.

 

Although myotherapy has never been scientifically validated, it did receive a sort of ad hoc trial over a 5-year period at a General Motors assembly plant. There, the medical director gave myotherapy to 1,000 workers with muscle injuries or other muscle-based pains. He reported a greater than 90 percent success rate, including symptom relief, elimination of lost work time, and reduction of medical costs for x-rays and physical therapy. The majority of patients required only one treatment.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Oops. So, it appears that Dr. Flash Amazing has made, like, a mistake thingy. Apparently, the other therapy (i.e. not prolo-) is called mesotherapy, not myotherapy. That might make for a more informative investigation. From the article, it sounds more like a short-term ameliorative for symptoms, vs. prolo's more healing-focused approach.

 

Hmmm ...

[willstrickland]

Oops. So, it appears that Dr. Flash Amazing has made, like, a mistake thingy. Apparently, the other therapy (i.e. not prolo-) is called mesotherapy, not myotherapy. That might make for a more informative investigation. From the article, it sounds more like a short-term ameliorative for symptoms, vs. prolo's more healing-focused approach.

 

Hmmm ...

 

Ok so MESOTHERAPY then:

 

Dr. M. Pistor originated the technique of Mesotherapy in France in 1952. It is commonly practiced in France, where more than 15,000 practitioners utilize Mesotherapy for the care of their patients. Mesotherapy is also practiced in many other countries around the world, including Belgium, Columbia, Argentina, and throughout Europe.

 

Mesotherapy is an interventional natural medicine technique. The technique involves the injection of substances to stimulate the mesoderm for various biological purposes. For instance, if the mesoderm circulation is poor, a vasodilator is used; if excessive inflammation is present, an anti-inflammatory medication is used; or if inflammation/stimulation is needed; a fibroblast proliferating solution is injected. We use natural plant extracts whenever possible; however, traditional pharmacologic agents are sometimes required.

 

Uses for Mesotherapy

The compounds injected into the mesoderm during Mesotherapy depend upon the pathophysiology of the disease process. In general, the substances fall into the following classes: vasodilators, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, decontractants (reduce contractures), proteolytic enzymes, biologics (including vitamins, minerals, and plant extracts), vaccines, anti-infectants, hormones, hormone blockers, general medicine physiologics, and anesthetics.

 

Mesotherapy is effective for a multitude of conditions because it helps reverse the physiology of that condition. In rheumatoid arthritis, for example, plant and pharmacologic agents are used to control inflammation; whereas connective tissue stimulators (such as silica, biotin, and proteolytic enzymes) that promote inflammation and healing would be given to the athlete with a ligament tear or degenerated tendon.

 

The pathophysiology is multifactorial in many conditions, therefore, multiple agents are used.

 

Dr. Jacque Le Coz, former president of the French Society of Mesotherapy and Mesotherapist for the French National Sports Teams, has written three books on Mesotherapy, including Mesotherapie et medecine esthetique (Solal Publishing, France), Mesotherapie et traumatologie sportive (Masson Publishing, France), and Mesotherapie en medecine generale. Dr. Le Coz was privileged to become the pupil of the founder of mesotherapy, Dr. M Pistorand.

 

As outlined in Dr. Le Coz's books, Mesotherapy has been shown to be effective for the following conditions:

 

Sports injuries:

· Arthropathy

· Barre-Lieou Syndrome

· Chronic Joint Swelling

· Ligament Sprain

· Meniscal Tear

· Muscle Tear

· Muscular Bruises

· Overuse Injuries

· Periosteitis

· Plantar Fasciitis

· Shin Splints

· Stress Fractures

· Tendon Calcifications

· Tendon Degeneration

· Tendon Strain

[layton]

in regard to mylotherapy, trigger point technique is very common and helpful and no one ever calls it mylotherapy.

 

in regards to mesotherapy. someone please define mesoderm.

 

I know that mesoderm aka mesenchyme is a embryonic germ layer of partially undifferentiated cells that develop into other tissues. The other two layers being endoderm and ectoderm. Adults do not have mesoderm, but the differentiated cells that developed from the mesodermal layer in the embryo.

 

I would also like to know what a fibroblast proliferating substance would contain. Also what vaccines, horomones, and horomone blockers specifically.

 

I'll probably have to find this out myself, but i was hoping someone would do it for me. I also don't read french.

[jt]

Mike, ask Borman about this. My guess is that Mesoderm in the adult refers to tissue derived from embryological mesoderm, but I am not sure, and too beat to look it up. I am curious though.