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Chronic Back Pain in the Elderly

Hello,   My 82 year old grandmother suffers from chronic back pain, most likely due to degeneration of the bones/osteoarthritis (as diagnosed).   We are currently trying to find a naturopath to work with.    Please let me know if you feel there are any naturopathic solutions to ease her type of pain.   Thank you, L.

Dear L:
I do see many elderly persons with chronic back pains.  Although x-rays and MRIs clearly demonstrate degenerative changes, these factors are not necessarily the cause of the pain. After all, almost all 82 year olds have degeneration in their spines, not all have back pain. My approach would be to first take a case history and examine her.  Having x-ray or other imaging reports would be helpful as would any recent labs.  Seeing recent x-rays would be more helpful than a report if possible.  Depending on the exam and assessment different therapies could be tried based on the findings if appropriate.   Unless there is something  uncommon about your  grandmother's health  I would take an integrative therapeutic approach.  It would be important to consider nutrient factors and make use of appropriate supplements if required.  A physical assessment and case history would help to determine the best therapy or multi-therapies to use.  Generally speaking, the physical therapies I'd consider for her might be:
Spinal alignment: Please realize that for an 82 y.o. there are very gentle techniques that would be used, referred to as low force or non-force that are very gentle and comfortable for elderly people. Vigourous manipulations would NOT be used, but gentle alignment can be very efficacious. 
Acupuncture: gentle needling:
Trigger point injections and or Neural therapy: or
Muscle therapies:
Prolotherapy to rebuild weakened ligaments and tendons, very very effective:
Exercise Therapies:
Although some of these treatments are more invasive than others, I usually begin with the most gentle first, and if satisfactory results do not appear, we may wish to progress to stronger treatments.  Many chronic back pain patients have had all of the usual treatments with little effect and may opt to begin with prolotherapy, which is the most effective, but painful to receive.  I try to adjust the treatment to the patient's desires and tolerance.

Anxiety Disorder

I’m a young man, who’s 33 years old
I have the following symptoms :

• I feel Tiredness in my whole body
• I’m absent-minded
• I tend to forget a lot
• Easy to get stressed out and emotional
• Shivering: is similar to the elderly shivering, but in my case
  it’s not that obvious, yet I can feel it in my whole body, even my teeth.
  I started eating healthy nutritious food such as honey, natural herbals,
  Nigeria Sativa, bee and stings treatment, but with no apparent curing
  results.

I have been diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder.  Does acupuncture or medication help this case?

Thanks a lot and best regards.

E.

Dear Mr. E:

If you have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, there maybe many different treatments that may be helpful.  Not any two people are the same and it is important to consider the psychological/emotional issues as well as the biochemical and energetic (acupuncture energy) factors.  I try to look at these problems from a wholistic perspective, considering patient history, brain chemistry, lifestyle, diet and nutrition, acupuncture energies, and numerous other factors.  It would necessary to have a consultation and examination to get some ideas about where to begin. Often anxiety problems require an appropriate analysis of neurotransmitter and hormonal balance as well as regulation of blood sugar disturbances and other dietary factors. There may also be other factors such as sympathetic nervous system dysfunction, heavy metal toxins or a multitude of other factors. Treatment may include dietary changes, detoxification and herbal, vitamin, amino acid, hormonal or neurotransmitter supplementations.  Structural injuries especially head injuries may have a significant impact on nervous system function.

Herniated Disc

 Hello Dr. Brown,  I recently came across prolotherapy and I'm very interested to learn more about it.   I had a partial discectomy between L5-S1, nearly 8 years ago. Although, I have recovered well I still live with pain and tingling in oneof my legs from time to time.  I get regular adjustments and find that the relief lasts for a while aslong as I continue to exercise.   I'd like to learn more about the effects of prolotherapy and to see how it might help to stabilize my lower back.

R.

Dear R.:

As far as your condition goes, prolotherapy is very much the treatment of choice for chronic disc problems.

Did you have a lumbar fusion? Of course there is more we can do if there is only a discectomy and no fusion. Most of the pain from disc problems is actually coming from the ligaments. As the disc thins, the ligaments have less distance to cover and become lax. It is this laxity that produces much of the pain. Ligaments also have well defined referral pain patterns down the leg that can be mistaken for nerve root pressure from a disc. Surgery on a disc does nothing to fix the underlying problem which is ligament laxity, which is why you like many others continue to have pain years after surgery. It may very well be the surgery was necessary to ease a very painful condition, but at this stage you need stability and healing of the area. Chiropractic treatments that provide temporary relief tells us that the holding elements (ligaments and tendons) cannot do their job. Muscle strengthening may help, but prolotherapy is the only treatment I know of that can actually cause the body to grow new, stronger, thicker and more stable ligaments.

Please look at the website. I have provided quite extensive information, explaining prolotherapy, and have links to research articles and video presentations.If you haven't already, please check out: a brief  description of prolotherapy or an extensive overview of prolotherapy

sincerely,Dr. Hal Brown

General, Undiagnosed "unwellness" and Urinary Tract Infections

Hi,

I am a 26 year old university student who has been sick for about 4 months now. In February I felt ill
and a urine dip was done and I was put on one round of antibiotics and then another, and then told that my
original condition was probably a mono like virus and there was nothing to be done. About a week or so later I developed costocondritis and prescribed naproxen and told that was all that could be done. I still have it, not nearly as severe as it was.   I missed over a month of classes this past semester and actually
tend to get sick at least once each semester for at least a week.  I am one of that people that seems to
always be sick and always has been sick.   The more immediate reason that I am contacting you is
that in the past few weeks I have developed another UTI - Which I get at least once or twice a year- and
ended up with a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics which landed me in the emergency room last
Friday and was put on prednisone and benedryl and left to fend for myself. I have had allergies since I was a child, and given little direction as to what to do with them. And almost every year since I was fifteen have ended up in the hospital for anaphylaxis or another severe reaction. And I'm tired of being sick and tired of not being able to do those things that I love.  Can you help me?

K.

Dear K.

It sounds as though you have been struggling for too long with this problem.  Clearly there is no definitive medical diagnosis. I see many patients that have general, undiagnosable "unwellness". The challenge is not to treat the symptoms but to do tests that can help us identify what underlying factors may be contributing to your problems. Although I cannot guarantee total success, I do see many people with a similar myriad of symptoms and am often able to achieve satisfying results, each requiring their own unique treatment plan.  Clearly the first step is to treat the UTI with natural therapies and avoid the antibiotics which will only make things worse in the long run. From there we can begin to tend to the underlying causes.

Feeling Worse Taking a Remedy

I have stopped taking the homeopathic remedy you prescribed to me last visit, due to the fact that it made me feel very sick (almost to the point of incapacitation).   Being very sick is untenable for me, as I cannot miss work and have been very sick for almost 10 years-thus cannot bear the burden of taking prescriptions that make me feel far worse then before I started taking them.  What should I do?  I look forward to hearing from you.
B..

Dear B:
What you are describing, in homeopathy, is called a healing crisis from taking the remedy.  These remedies would do nothing for someone who had no need of them, in fact someone could drink a litre of the same remedy with no response, yet you have only taken a few drops. As unpleasant as it may seem, this is a positive effect, it was obviously the right remedy, but it is not making you worse, only bringing up the deeper condition. Although you may feel worse, your body is expressing a deep healing.  You did the right thing to stop; there is no point in prolonging the response.  What you could try is to wait until the reactions stop and then just continue by using a much lower dose less frequently.  Stay in your comfort zone, there is no need to suffer unnecessarily as the remedy is working.  If any reactions occur, then just cut back.   Don't give up on the remedies; it is a process that takes time.  It took time for you to get here and it will take time for you to recover.

Prolotherapy Inquiry

Good Day, Dr. Brown...

I am helping my father to research prolotherapy practitioners in the Lower Mainland.  Are you board certified with the CNPBC to perform these procedures?  About how many ankles (Osteoarthritis) do you treat per year and of those what is the percentage of people finding at least 50% reduction of their pain in terms of the frequency/severity/intensity/duration?  How many people report improved quality of life after treatments?  What is the composition of the solution that you use for injection?  What is the percentage of people getting significant side effects like a septic joint? 

M.

Dear M:

I can't answer every question specifically because I don't keep such statistics. Yes I am board certified by the CNPBC to do prolotherapy.  I probably treat at least one foot/ankle per week. I treat all the joints and perform perhaps 5-10 prolo treatments a day. The principles of treating the foot are much the same as the other joints. I have had the good fortune to spend some time with a podiatrist that specializes in foot and ankle prolotherapy, so I feel I have knowledge in the area. Again no stats, but certainly most people feel much better with prolo, certainly better than 50% improvement in all areas. Maybe 10% don't respond.  Response also depends on the degree and chronicity of the injury or the degenerative changes.  Osteoarthritis usually responds very well, as long as there is some functional joint activity. I use surgically sterile technique and have never seen any infections from doing prolotherapy, although this is theoretically possible.  There are few side effects, but there is a temporary aggravation of pain that usually subsides in 1-3 days, although the occasional case may go on for longer. These are not side effects, but actual effects and part of the expected process.

There are three levels of solutions I use.  Usually we begin with the mildest of 20% dextrose with procaine and homeopathy. In most cases this solution strength is adequate for good results.  In some people I use the stronger P2G solution with procaine. And for the few that need a very strong stimulation I use sodium morhuate, mixed with P2G and procaine. The stronger solutions also create a stronger reaction.  If we are doing intra-articular joints I may use hyaluronic acid, MSM, DMSO or Glucosamine Sulphate as well as the other solutions. Occasionally I use ozone, but have never tried it on an ankle.

As well I may perform adjustments to the ankle or treat other areas if they appear to be related.

A naturopathic protocol of supportive supplements and nutrition is also helpful to optimize recovery.

I hope this addresses your concerns.

sincerely,

Dr. Hal Brown

Scar Treatment

Hi Dr Brown
I was doing a search on the web about scar tissues and came across your website. I live in Toronto, and work with an alternative professional. It had been mentioned that I had scar fascia between my navel and right hip bone. That is causing me severe back pain, and also other restrictive ailments. Currently she treats it with a machine to slowly absorb bio cell or bio muscle gel into that area to soften it up. However it is a very long process.  My medical dr had tried to inject pain medicine in my spine in various places, and may contemplate doing that now on the origin of the pain. So I thought that perhaps the ND community may have also developed a way to address this scar by injecting natural products to return it to normal. Then I found your article. Am I making any sense to you, and would these neural injections help someone like me - I know you cant give an opinion without a consult, but is this something worst exploring. your comment is greatly appreciated

Dear T:
without knowing your full case, from what you describe, you appear to be on the correct path of thinking. You need to find someone that does scar injections in Toronto, I suspect treatment would be of great help.. I suggest you start by contacting the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OAND) or  American Academy of Neural Therapy for a referal.

HB

Childhood Vaccination?

I am a mother of 2 1/2 year old boy.

I have decided not to vaccinate him. But I am not 100% confident of my decision.

My concern is that the disease such as measles or mumps which were still around when I grew up, seem no longer be there. Without being naturally exposed to them, how can my son get immune to those?

I heard that there is a homeopathic immunization from my cat's homeopathic vet, and was wondering if you offer it. My son is very healthy. That is the only assurance I have about the decision I made. I am always pressured by others to vaccinate him. What are your feeling on this subject? Are we able to come and visit you?

Thanks for your time,
CU

Dear CU:
Yes you are right it is a difficult decision and controversial. There are risks from vaccinations, but there are also benefits. Many experts question as you do that many of the childhood diseases we experienced may not be worth vaccinating against, one must weigh the risks of the disease with the effects of the vaccination.  Often the decrease of an illness is due to mass immunization and children not immunized are riding on the benefit from those who have. Often children living at lower economic and hygeine standards are at more risk. It is also true that some vaccinations have had serious negative effects on some children.  Some practitioners say that they can do homeopathic immunization, it may be considered prophalaxis or preventative but it is not immunization.  It is the policy of the BC Naturopathic Association to neither advocate for or against vaccination, as it is a personal decision to be made by parents, and I agree with this principle.  There is much information on the web, some of it radical, so some sense must be brought to the issue. A good resource for information can be found at the health action network site: http://www.hans.org/hanslibrary/search.php?column=subject&q=vaccination

Hip Replacement Surgery

I am inquiring about whether or not your treatment would be beneficial to me.  I have started to wear out my hips being very active over the years now forming arthritis, more so in my right hip.  I am only 37 and have been told I may need to get a hip replacement in 5 years if I continue the way I do.   My hips are lacking the shock absorbing quality they once had.  Is there any treatment of yours that would help create the space and shock absorbtion that my hip needs?
Thank you. DC

Dear DC:

At 42 (in 5 years) you would still be too young for a hip replacement, as they are currently good for 15-30 years.  Depending on the degree of degenerative change in your hip, it may be very possible to improve your function and level of comfort with a reasonable chance of slowing down the degenerative changes. I have patients, mostly much older than you, with probably much worse hips, who have been kept mobile and comfortable with Hip Prolotherapy, even though hip replacement had been recommended to them.  I find this treatment to be of tremendous benefit with degenerative joint disease. As well as the regular prolotherapy treatments, I might also add ingredients to the solutions that stimulate joint regeneration, such as hyaluronic acid , MSM, Glucosamine etc.

Shoulder Dislocation

I am considering prolotherapy for my 18 year old son who has experienced four shoulder dislocations in the past year and a half.  His MRI showed a Hill-Sachs legion and an extensive labral tear that appears near circumferential. Do you have experience using prolotherapy with this type of injury or is this something that would be worthwhile for him to make an appointment with you?

Sincerely, ES

Dear Mr. S:
The consensus of experience is that prolotherapy can be helpful for labral tears if they are near a blood supply. But even if they are not, the usual treatment for shoulder dislocations tends to relieve patients of the problems associated with the tear and many patients can avoid surgery.  I have seen many chronic recurring shoulder dislocations stabilize with great success. Your son's shoulder problems would most likely benefit significantly from prolotherapy.