Primary dysmenorrhea is defined as cramping pain in the lower abdomen occurring just before or during menstruation, in the absence of other diseases such as endometriosis.(1) Prevalence rates are as high as 90 percent. Women with primary dysmenorrhea have increased production of endometrial prostaglandin, resulting in increased uterine tone and stronger, more frequent uterine contractions.(1) Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications… Read More »
Practitioners and physicians alike are often seeking answers as to why a patient is in pain and will often point to a structural abnormality as the reason for this pain. However, it may surprise you to learn that structural integrity often does not correlate to subjective pain measures in patients. The best example can be seen… Read More »
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a medical condition due to compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunnel.[1] The main symptoms are pain, numbness and tingling, in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and the thumb side of the ring fingers.[1] Symptoms typically start gradually and during the… Read More »
Prolotherapy, also called proliferation therapy or regenerative injection therapy is a treatment of tissue with the injection of an irritant solution into a joint space, weakened ligament, or tendon insertion to relieve pain. The term Proli is Latin for “to grow.” The most commonly injected irritant solution used is dextrose, which is another name for… Read More »
PLATELET RICH PLASMA (PRP) Pharmacological Aspects The PRP is obtained by withdrawing blood directly from the patient, with a needle of 18-20G, to avoid trauma to the platelets, which if damaged would release their growth factors early. The syringe contains an anticoagulant (ratio of sodium citrate and blood 1:9) in order to chelate calcium, block… Read More »
According to famous TCM author Qiu Maoliang‘s most influential textbook, Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion; acupoint injection therapy is described as …a method of injecting liquid medicine into acupoints in order to prevent and treat disease. It combines permeating and stimulating functions of needles and medicine, and can enhance both their therapeutic effects in treating disease.(1)… Read More »
OXYGEN-OZONE (O2O3) The oxygen-ozone therapy is based on the application of a mixture of 97% of medical oxygen and 3% ozone. Ozone is a form of oxygen allotrope, discovered in 1832 by Schonbein who described the strong odor during the slow oxidation experiments of white phosphorus and the electrolysis of water, and in 1839 by… Read More »
Osteoarthritis is defined as a type of joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone(1). Osteoarthritis of the knee is usually associated with pain, stiffness, swelling and decreased mobility and is the result of degeneration of the articular cartilage around the joint. The usual care for knee osteoarthritis;(2) Medications such as… Read More »
Local anesthetics are commonly used in Acupoint injections, although ARIABC generally recommends the less toxic compound procaine over lidocaine, both are beneficial in treating pain conditions. Non-specific low back pain is defined as back pain where no serious underlying pathology is identified. In a study published in 2016(1), patients with chronic non-specific low back pain were… Read More »
There are currently no conventional long term solutions for tennis elbow.(1) Doctors usually offer NSAIDS (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac), exercise therapy and corticosteroid injections, which all offer short term benefits only and high recurrence. Patients who undergo corticosteroid injections fare worse than placebo injections after 1 year with a 54% recurrence rate vs 12%.(2) PRP injections are… Read More »