Prolotherapy and Back Pain Articles
Prolotherapy helped me personally after numerous chronic injuries and a failed surgery. It is a valuable weapon that can help people with chronic pain.

● Read about Dr. Darrow's back pain



It's not my herniated disc?
Many people come in with what they are calling a herniated disc problem because they have pain in their back and pain in their leg and they think the disc is responsible.

MRIs and Back Pain
We typically have patients come into our office with stacks of MRIs, CT Scans and x-rays to confirm the label of Degenerative Disc Disease placed on them by other medical professionals. For example, a woman once came into our office. She had in essence become the living, breathing “embodiment,” of the problem that showed up on her film. When she came in, all she could do was talk about her degenerative disc disease.

Sacroiliac Joint
One of the most common causes of low back pain that we see in our office is the pain caused by the sacroiliac joint (SI).

Degenerative Disc Disease
The aging process brings about degenerative changes to our ligaments, tendons, and cartilage through the desiccation (the drying out) of collagen. Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) refers to this process occurring in the vertebral discs. It just so happens that the vertebral discs suffers through the most dramatic of age-related changes of all connective tissue related to this process.

MedX for back pain
A MedX workout twice a week for several weeks can alleviate back pain and prevent back injuries, and a recent study indicates that the MedX might even prevent back surgery.

Failed Back Surgery
Perhaps the most distressing is "failed back syndrome" -- an official-sounding term to describe the pain of those poor patients whose surgical attempts have failed to correct their problem.

Genetic Back Pain?
When you ask me what is the best way to prevent these back pain episodes that you have, the triad of healing in my office is chiropractic to align the spine and then MedX treatment which are big frame machines that were established by Arthur Jones who built Nautilus equipment.

Lower Back Pain
Because the structures of the lower back are very complicated, and the specific symptoms of lower back pain are highly varied, lower back pain is one of the most difficult to diagnose and treat.

Lumbar Stenosis
From Dr. Darrow's radio show: The caller is a neurologist. "I am a neurologist, I have a lot of patients that have lumbar stenosis with a lot of pain, weakness, and loss of balance. For various reasons, medical problems, they are not good surgical candidates or they do not want surgery.

MedX-Wall Street Journal
An article about the MedX machine that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Myths About Back Pain
While sometimes easy to diagnose and treat, back pain can also be very complex. The source of the pain can be due to a single, or multiple causes. Consequently, it can be difficult to diagnose the cause of the pain. Each pain source has a wide variety of treatment options that must be considered, and your treatment may be completely unique from someone else.

Bulging Discs
A caller into the Dr. Marc Darrow Radio Show has aggravated a baseball injury and his herniated discs, Dr. Darrow discusses the spraining of the iliolumbar ligament and the  examination and potential use of Prolotherapy.

Radiculopathy Blog
Radicular pain is described as deep and usually constant. It follows the nerve down the leg and is often accompanied by numbness or tingling and muscle weakness.

Radiculopathy
Often I find that the radiating pain is not because of radiculopathy or pinched nerve but because of a ligament that is loose or injured because ligaments refer pain the same way.

Surgical Alternatives
Can Prolotherapy really fix a back problem where surgery cannot?

Types of Back Pain
There are many structures in the lower back that can cause severe pain. These include muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, joints and discs. The outer rim of the disc can be a source of significant back pain due to its rich nerve supply and tendency towards injury.

During our development, there is a great deal of overlap of nerve supply to all of these structures. This makes it nearly impossible for the brain to distinguish between injury to one structure versus another.

Psychological Factors in Back Pain
There is much to be said for reducing the stress load in one's life when trying to deal with chronic back pain.

Sciatica
I am having a lot of problems with my L5 disc. Every now and then, and for no reason, I get a tremendous pain in that area, my back freezes up and I can't do anything or straighten up. I wind up bent over in half, it goes on for several days.

NEW: Radio Show Back Pain Blogs