Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Needling the pain

By Ursula Hennessy, Merrifield, Va. (in the Washington Post)
When I developed a severe case of spinal stenosis and sciatica, I went to a pain specialist in Arlington who explained prolotherapy. He injected six needles filled with dextrose solution near the site of the pain.
I did not feel much relief for the first couple of days. A week later, I was doing carpentry work. When I countersunk a screw by hand, I felt the tension move from my arms into my lower spine, which made the injection site tingle. I stood up and the pain was completely gone. I have remained pain-free for the past four years, with no lingering side effects.
What Christie Aschwanden describes as needling  ("After dry needling, a runner's Achilles injury heals," November 4th) sounds like prolotherapy, which has a fairly thorough body of research. It is cheaper and less invasive than surgery.

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