Hi All,

I was wondering if any of you sufferers have looked at or considered prolotherapy? I recently read an article about a hockey player named Simon Gagne who had 4 concussions and dealt with Post-Concussion symptoms for 7 months before seeking out Dr. Greenberg in NJ.

He is now back to playing hockey and feels just like his pre-concussive self. I will give the link to the article to check it out. I do believe in full recovery. I also know that there are some out there who do not recover so well, but I feel there is something hindering them from full recovery. A lot of the time that is pain, which can alter your sleep and ability to concentrate

Prolotherapy has been shown to treat migraines and headaches. Dr. Greenberg suffered from headaches for 3 years after an automobile accident. He used prolotherapy and is now headache free. He can run, bike, and work all day without any headache. Here is the link:

I just realized I cannot post the link because I am too new....you will have to google "Simon Gagne and Prolotherapy"

Carmell

I did prolotherapy with Dr. Greenberg. I thought he was fantastic...did 3 rounds (2 weeks apart). Cherry HIll is 2 hrs from me and I can't drive...so my husband had to take off work to take me. He helped a friends son who was suffering for 9 months at the time.

For me...it was more of a nerve block...helped my neck (for about another month after) but didn't help my symptoms of being overstimulated. In a way, since my headaches weren't so bad, I did more and prob overstimulated myself more.

I wouldn't cross it off my list again...I'm trying other things like prism lenses and visual therapy since I believe there is such a visual component. (10 mins i last on computer and 20 mins watching tv)...barely drive without a migraine.

what are your symptoms??

I saw your post and have had similar PCS symptoms for several months. I can't use the computer, read or watch TV very long as it's too hard on my brain. I would like to know if you recovered from these symptoms and what helped you. I've been taking supplements and had acupuncture and cranial work, but nothing has helped so far. My husband has had to stay home and help me because the symptoms are debilitating. Thanks for your help! Carrie

CBS,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. The thread you have posted has been dormant for a long time. Prolotherapy is not appropriate for concussion. It is more oriented for joint injuries. It causes an inflammation response to cause healing at the joint.

I'll look for you other post.

There have been many NIH studies on Prolotherapy, most have all resulted in Conclusions needing further study, excepting Fluoroscopically Guided Cervical Prolotherapy.

Abstract is here.

Full Text is here.

Apparently this has been useful in areas where some of our worse headaches evolve - C2/3, and C5/6 - C2/3 for Occipital Neuralgia problems and C5/6 for those wicked whiplash injuries(most commonly).

As we all know, many of our headaches may result from Neck problems from the injuries we have received, so this may be something worthwhile, but not panacea.

Trigger Point Injections respond differently in different people, everyone is an individual and has their own response, as will be the same with Prolotherapy.

One other thing - No One should be injecting the Upper Cervical Spine without Guided Fluoscopy, in a setting with available emergency care - the vertebral arteries anatomy can be challenging to even the best practitioner, and should not have a needle approaching the skeletal area blindly .

I no longer have any cognitive symptoms from my concussion, but I do have a bit of a sore neck. I was looking into prolotherapy as an alternative to muscle relaxers or steroid injections. I may just wait it out, but thought others might benefit from it! For 6 months though I did have headaches, migraines, vertigo, nausea, and insomnia.

Prolotherapy may be helpful for a joint issue since it is focused on antagonizing or irritating an area thus causing the body to put effort into healing that area.

The same concept is often at work with arthroscopic knee surgery. I had knee surgery twice with both times nothing found to repair so nothing was done. After both times, my knees were much better. The explanation is simple. The surgery antagonized the body in that location causing a increase in healing effort. This combined with the two weeks rest of the knee allows the body to accomplish worthwhile healing.

Alternating cold and heat on a joint can cause the same kind of healing action. The cold decreases swelling which can slow blood flow then the heat increases circulation to improve healing.

I can not see any way that prolotherapy would help with neurological concussion symptoms. The headaches that result from muscle tension or joint injuries may be helped but not the cognitive or memory problems.

carmell, No matter how much you believe in full recovery from concussion, it is not so. You may achieve an appearance of a full functional recovery but your brain will never be the same. The next concussion will be more damaging that the previous.

Brain stress will cause a return of concussion symptoms to every concussion sufferer. The magnitude of the return of symptoms will be dependent on the original injury and the level of brain stress. What this means is every concussion sufferer needs to be aware of their brain's need to be protected from another impact and/or from the stresses that can cause a return of symptoms.

I am not saying prolotherapy will not work, just that its benefit is in increasing healing to joints and muscle/tendon like injuries.

I beg to differ on this. I received a concussion playing soccer when I was 17 and one earlier when I was 7. I had no residual symptoms after these concussions. I was a normal, happy, functional High School girl. I even graduated top of my class as Valedictorian. Do I believe my brain tissue is the same? No. It's like when you cut your finger and it heals as a scar. It is not as good as the original tissue, but is still functional. The more concussions you get, the harder it is to recover. But full recovery does exist, and I feel I am living proof.

carmell --- I will tell you the prolotherapy is expensive. But it might work for you. Go have a consultation with Dr. Greenberg. Where do you live? I'm northern NJ so 2 hrs away. He is a great dr.

I am in Canada, but there are a few Doctors around where I life that practice prolotherapy. I wonder, is it worth the cost? Or am I better of with a regular nerve block?