Dr. Angela | Regenerative Injection Therapies | Prolotherapy & Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections
  • home
    • Dr. Angela bio
    • mission statement
    • media page
    • conditions treated
  • Injections
    • Physician Training
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Learn From Me
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • articles
  • testimonials

So how long exactly is this supposed to last?!

3/28/2016

0 Comments

 
 Understandably, patients who receive Regenerative Injection Therapy - whether that is Prolotherapy or Platelet Therapy - want to know how long to expect their benefits to last.

And as much as I would like to forecast each unique scenario with exact precision, I am left with two realms of information to draw from in order to answer that question - observations of myself and colleagues' RIT work, and research.

So today I am discussing Prolotherapy research published in 2012 (document below). I am wanting in particular to look at Prolotherapy because, as I explain to any patients considering either RIT therapy, while both stimulate the body to regenerate the damaged tissue, Prolotherapy is a more gentle force (Platelet Therapy is roughly three times stronger in its effect per treatment).

After injections to the knees for osteoarthritis symptoms such as pain and stiffness (this condition is also known as Degenerative Joint Disease), participants noted improvement around the 4 week mark. I usually counsel patients that we will assess an initial effect in the 3 to 4 week time-frame.

The surprising conclusion is that participants continued to see improvement "through the 52-week followup." That means continued regenerative healing seen one year later.

That is impressive. Can you think of any other treatment recommendation for a chronic musculoskeletal disease, where positive effects continue and accumulate and are seen at least one year afterward?!

The conclusion from that study was that, "prolotherapy may result in safe, significant, sustained improvement of knee pain, function and stiffness." 

This is why I do RIT my friend, because it is safe, it is profound and it truly stimulates healing to deeply, chronically injured areas where surgery is often the only conventional recommendation (and you can see my prior post about how that may be a completely ineffective option).

Where would you like to be in a year? How would you like to feel right about this time in 2017?  Do yourself the favor to at least see whether RIT techniques might be the right fit for you.

If you are in or travel to the Portland area, you can give our office a call to set up a consultation or new patient appointment. I look forward to helping you (and your joints!) reach their maximum potential!

To your best health,
Dr. Angela Cortal



prolo_for_koa_1_yr_follow_up_2012.pdf
File Size: 313 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Before you get knee arthroscopy, read this!

3/14/2016

0 Comments

 

Or, "Try other therapies first before going under the knife for knee pain!"

Maybe you have osteoarthritis (OA) of the knees or other joints (hips, spine, etc). And I'll bet that if you don't you know more than one family member or friend who does. Also called Degenerative Joint Disease, it is very common, especially with those who are middle-aged or older. There are more than 3 million new cases diagnosed each year, in the US alone!

After years (decades even) of chronic low-grade inflammation, wear and tear, perhaps poor work or activity ergonomics, nutritional deficiencies and many other factors, joints try their best to repair and respond to these insults by replacing cartilage with bone.

Cartilage is a smooth connective tissue, with glass-like surfaces gliding together to give our knees their hinged movement.  Bone is tougher, more solid and also has a more bumpy, irregular surface, so is not the best gliding surface.

This is the essence of the development of OA.

So what can be done?

Well, being a Naturopathic Doctor, of course I want to treat the source and influencing factors (by correcting all those I mentioned above as much as we are able).

But then what can we do for the aches and pains that often come on with moderate to severe OA?

Conventional medicine will often offer physical therapy (which can be beneficial to be sure), and anti-inflammatory medications (such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen) or pain medication to be taken daily as needed. Then after years of that, a joint replacement will often be recommended.

Not only do those anti-inflammatories themselves accelerate the cartilage degeneration problem (see previous blog post and research link here), they do nothing to solve the situation.

And joint replacement surgeries are harsh, hard on the body, involve long recovery periods and are nothing to take lightly.

As an intermediate step, arthroscopy is often recommended. This is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure where visualization scopes are used for the surgeon to remove small bony growths seen within the joint capsule.

And does this work? Does this correct the OA?

In short, no. It has proven to be less effective than "sham surgery" (incisions in the skin alone with no further surgery) and less effective than physical therapy.

This is huge news. The most common procedure done for knee OA has basically been proven to be worthless. And this is no news flash, this research was published in 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine. I included both the full document and a pdf link below as I think this is important information that needs to be disseminated and wanted you to be able to access it.

So if arthroscopy is shown to be basically ineffective, what can be done? (after you get your movement, nutrition, etc in order or at it's a work in progress)

That is exactly where Regenerative Injection Therapies can step in and truly help with restoration and healing of chronically degenerated knees (among other joints).

By stimulating the body to re-initiate its healing process, and by bringing stem cells and other healing factors to the exact location they are needed, real regeneration is possible.  I see it all the time, and am so grateful to be able to offer these techniques to my patients.

For research information, see the above RIT link (which has its own specific research links) and also this national organization's website has many more research citations.

Suffice to say, if "conservative care" hasn't worked well enough for you (PT, other movement therapies, NSAIDs, pain medication) and you are faced with surgical recommendations, do yourself the favor to at least see whether RIT techniques might be the right fit for you.

If you are in or travel to the Portland area, you can give our office a call to set up a consultation or new patient appointment. I look forward to helping you (and your joints!) reach their maximum potential!

To your best health,
Dr. Angela Cortal


koa_arthroscopy_ineffective_nejm_2008.pdf
File Size: 313 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Why I'm anti-Ibuprofen for chronic pain

3/1/2016

0 Comments

 

Sure it's safer than Oxycontin, but it has its own unwanted side effects

Millions of Americans take handfuls of over the counter anti-inflammatories on a daily basis. I would guess that most don't once consider that there is anything unsafe or unwanted in effect from that Ibuprofen (or aspirin, Aleve, Tylenol, etc).

After all, it's over the counter, so it's gotta be safe, right?
No! Not always.

Particularly in my field of Regenerative Injection Therapies, I talk a lot about someone's use (dependency maybe) on these medications, called NSAIDs as a group.

Not only do most of them interfere with the actual injection procedure and immediately thereafter with the healing process, they are not good for you long term! They are not benign and I never want my patients to gain benefit from Prolotherapy or Platelet Therapy/ PRP and go on to continue taking (a smaller) handful of NSAIDs on an on-going basis.

Why? Because they undermine the exact healing processes that the injections are seeking to stimulate. They interfere with stem cell activity, therefore interfere with new growth of cartilage, ligaments, joints, whatever connective tissue it is that we are seeking to repair.

Here is a great article from a colleague, talking more about this with primary research links. Suffice to say, make a game plan to change your medication routine if it involves a daily dose of Ibuprofen, Aleve or Tylenol - for the long-term health of your body.

0 Comments
    Picture
    I'm Dr. Angela, and I want to help you and your joints feel their very best.
    Get on my email list!

    Archives

    August 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Acupuncture
    Acute
    Advertising
    Allergies
    Alternative
    Alzheimer's
    Anti Inflammatory
    Anti-inflammatory
    Antipyretic
    Anxiety
    Appreciation
    Asprin
    Attention
    Autism
    Babies
    Birth Defects
    Bitters
    Blood Sugar
    Body
    Bone Density
    Bone Fractures
    Calcium
    Cam
    Cancer
    Carcinogen
    Cell Phone
    Chemicals
    Children
    Chronic
    Chronic Disease
    Cortisol
    Crops
    Day
    Daylight
    Dementia
    Depression
    Diabetes
    Diet
    Digestion
    Disease
    Dry Cleaning
    Eating
    Energy
    Environmental Exposure
    Epilepsy
    Exercise
    Exposure
    Fever
    Food
    Foster United
    Fruit
    Functional
    Genetics
    Global Health
    Glycemic Index
    Glycemic Load
    Grocery
    Health
    Healthcare
    Healthcare Reform
    Healthcare Workers
    Healthy
    Heart Disease
    Heart Failure
    Heartmath
    Herbicide
    High Blood Pressure
    Hippocrates
    Hospital
    Hypertension
    Illness
    Immune Function
    Immune Response
    Infants
    Inflammation
    Insurance
    Intention
    Iq
    Iron
    Legislation
    Lifestyle
    Lunch
    Marketing
    Meals
    Medicine
    Meditation
    Melatonin
    Metabolism
    Natural
    Naturopath
    Naturopathy
    Neighborhood
    Night
    Nutrition
    Obesity
    Oregon
    Organic
    Pain Management
    Paleolithic
    Pesticide
    Pesticides
    Portland
    Pregnancy
    Primary Care
    Produce
    Publicity
    Quality
    Quiz
    Radiation
    Research
    Rhythms
    Rose City Health Clinic
    Roundup
    Seizure
    Sleep
    Stress
    Sugar
    Supplements
    Sweets
    Tai Chi
    Time Management
    Vegan
    Vegetables
    Vitamin D
    Vitamins
    Weight Loss
    Well Being
    Well-being

about the doc

Dr. Angela's bio
Regenerative Injections Therapies (Prolotherapy & PRP)
Other Injection Therapy Services

patient info

new patient page
insurance/payment

contact

when & where

verified by healthprofs.com
Privacy Policy
© Copyright 2011-2022, Dr. Angela Cortal ND LLC

website content is for educational purposes only and is no substitute for medical advice
(see the Terms of Use Agreement for this site),

you must establish a doctor-patient relationship to receive that!

Photos used under Creative Commons from star5112, Infrogmation, ripkas, conbon33, deansouglass, noricum, Mr. T in DC, gandhiji40, Gane, everyone's idle, Ed Yourdon, racheocity, Vivian Chen [陳培雯], William Brawley, taylor dahlin, RenaudPhoto, toddwickersty, Nick J Webb, Casey David, myfuture.com, apparena, aithom2, Don Fulano, AASU Armstrong University Archives, jakebwotha, Scootie, gnuckx, jemsweb, Avia Venefica, Dylan and Cindi Luder, EvelynGiggles, puliarf, Kevin Krejci, christyscherrer, Itinerant Tightwad, weegeebored, Micah Sittig, L_K_M, biofriendly, kirinqueen, jsmjr, Peaches&Cream, kcxd, Tambako the Jaguar, a.drian, quinn.anya, Fancy Mandi, Melissa Gray, avlxyz, a_whisper_of_unremitting_demand, linademartinez, Helga Weber, Kevin N. Murphy, Mikamatto, Vivian Chen [陳培雯], See-ming Lee 李思明 SML, Wonderlane, Images_of_Money, CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture, kirinqueen, Daquella manera, norwichnuts, jetsandzeppelins, Pink Sherbet Photography, Pip R. Lagenta, philwirks, BaileyRaeWeaver, heydrienne, nandadevieast, melloveschallah, cogdogblog, skampy, vintagedept, freeparking, mafe, John McNab, PhylB, FlexxyB, Pop!Tech, La Citta Vita, jimmiehomeschoolmom, A_of_DooM, Christofer Andersson, Rex Roof, mislav-m, Pixel Addict, chaysbc, colindunn, miss_yasmina, skedonk
  • home
    • Dr. Angela bio
    • mission statement
    • media page
    • conditions treated
  • Injections
    • Physician Training
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Learn From Me
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • articles
  • testimonials