Is my signature too long? http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_smile.gif

Your signature is your story and, only you can judge whether it is too long. I did tease one member about theirs being so long that it detracted from all of their posts.

Welcome to the forum.

What can we do to help you?

Terry Newton

Welcome... sorry you have to be here. Hopefully, we can help. Terry is our guru--he spoils us. http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_smile.gif

-Justin

For those of you unfamiliar with prolotherapy, the idea is your ligaments have become lax and are not keeping your vertebrae aligned correctly. My doctor removed anti-inflammatories from my drug regimen and injected an irritant, in this case 15% dextrose, into the spine (15different places in my case) in order for the white blood cells to “be called” to the sites and help rebuild collagen.

My question is this; in case this doesn’t work, ADR is the only option left. I was thinking of going to Stenum but some stories on this board have made me think twice. Has anyone had good experiences with TBI?

Thanks

Welcome to the ADR boards Adaris !!

I've read some successful stories from members here regarding TBI as well as Stenum.

You say if this current therapy doesn't work ADR is your only option left... is the problem just the one disc at L5/S1 ? Are there other boney issues or just the disc? Other areas of concern ?

The reason I ask is ADR is such a personal choice and one that needs to be made only after careful research. Making sure you are a good candidate is vital. And with the advances being made in spine care these days the options are expanding at an incredible rate..

Thanks for the kind welcome everyone.

To Toebin: No, I have two discs that have DDD (L4-5 and L5-S1)and I've updated my sig to reflect that. From what some doctors have said it would be a 2 level replacement.

Prolotherapy update: If you folks would allow me to share this with you for a moment, it seems I've given back some of the gains I had initially with the procedure. Two days ago I was sitting in a bad position for an extended period of time working from home and under a lot of stress (mostly because I couldn't be there) when I had a flare up that paled all other previous pain experiences (which is saying something). It was of a nature that for split second I was genuinely frightened and considered "checking out". Fortunately reason prevailed and a stiff drink and 10mg Valium worked like magic. A mental/physical connection, No? I go next week for my second treatment and will relay this experience to the doctor.

Thanks for the vent

A way to make prolotherapy more effective is to use blood platelets. You blood is drawn, spun down, and the platets used to make a solution which is used instead of the dextrose. It's a pretty intense irritant and probably shouldn't be used first time out but it does work better for those who need it. I'd also question the idea of a four month procedure. The therapy works best when you give 3 to 6 week between injections for the proliferant to work, but you should be able to tell if it's helping within three injections.

Some prefer fusion at the L5-S1 levels as there's little mobility there. This does not mean that this surgery's innocuous and it could cause S-1 joint problems. Sorry you're here and good luck.

Five serious auto accidents? Wow, I'd have major PTSD on seeing a "Stop" sign. Be well, ans

LOL! http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...on_biggrin.gif
Thanks ans, I needed that.

Hi Adaris. Just a thought to give you some temporary relief--have you tried pain medication? Although I don't recomend mixing meds and alcohol, you said a stiff drink and a 10mg Valium worked. There are quite a few new pain meds available, although it seems a majority of Dr.'s are hesitant to prescribe them. You may have to find a pain medication specialist. This may give you much needed temporary relief until you can determine a long term solution. Take care and good luck!

Johnny

2000-2008-back pain due to running, car and motorcyle accidents/25 injections, 3 physical therapy attempts, chiropractic, medication
07-IDET surgery at L4-5 lasts 4 months
Dascor (disc nucleous replacement) surgery scheduled for 9-30-08 (one week)