Chronic Lower Back Pain & Prolotherapy

My pain originated in the si area, radiating down the outside of my hip and down my right leg to my knee and never further down. I also sensed a very "loose" and weak si joint through the clicking and movement in the area. I think I injured myself doing heavy squats in the gym and strained my si ligaments. In particular the iliolumbar, dorsal and ventral sacroiliac ligaments. I suggest you read this website (http://www.Ligamentrx.Com/lbligstr.Htm)

i was very hesitant about prolotherapy due to the fact of never hearing of it before and the whole injection factor. How could injections heal pain like that. However, being thoroughly frustrated with my treatment thus far and in a lot of pain I was ready to try anything.
After 8 mos of completely useless chiro (i know worsened my condition) and pt treatment I decided to go for it. I began researching prolo and had my first treatement (my treatment's had anywhere from 10 to 20 actual injections below the skin surface) on 6/8/99, I noticed almost an immediate 50% improvement in pain (no joke!) for a period of about 2- 3 weeks. Second treatment on 6/28/99 and since then I had about 3-4 more treatments leading up to around dec' 99 during which time my left side began to hurt but that went away as well. I made continual improvement on each treatment to the point where I was pain free and not experiencing any more problems although i'm just extra careful not to do anything seriously strenuous such as squats. Since then I had one more 'insurance' treatment (1/2000) because I feel it's very tought to overtreat with prolo so while my insurance company was still covering the treatments I figured why not. Also, I don't mind needles so the treatments are pretty low-stress for me. I also plan on getting a treatment or 2 every couple of years because I think it will only help if not anything else but with peace of mind.

For me, the treatment was not painful (excellent dr and local anesthesia) and it's just a matter of patience. You go in for a treatment, which only takes about 15min and then you wait 3-4 weeks. It is, in my opinion, the only treatment that cures the problem (that is, if your problem is lax/damaged ligaments). I know of no other way to fix that condition. My pain sounds very similar to yours. You need to isolate the ligaments as the problem first though. My doctor did this through what he called trigger point injections. This involves using a numbing agent (lidocaine in my case I think) and injecting the si ligaments. If your pain disappears then the chances are very high that you're a great candidate for prolo.

I feel that if your back pain hasn't gone away in 3 - 4 weeks, pt / chiro doesn't help, your joints are hypermobile and your pain follows those referral patterns (down the leg/hip) then go for it... The risk is small and the payoff huge. I am pain free!!

Obviously this is not an advertisement since i'm not directing you to go anywhere - i'm simply posting my story as others did for me when I was in dire need of info.

Anthony