What we do for Joint and Muscle Pain and Inflammation
We see many people with muscle and joint pain.  These pains are often chronic, coming from repetitive activities over years, poor posture, excessive exercise, or unresolved injuries.

Change What You Eat
Sugar, dairy and refined grains (including wheat) aggravate pain.  These are inflammatory foods.  Fruits and green vegetables reduce pain.  There is often noticable improvement within 2 or 3 days when you change what you eat.

Get the Right Physical Therapy  
Include stretching exercises, as painful tissues become tight.  Massage, chiropractic, electrical stimulation and acupuncture are very effective when done properly.  They should not make your pain worse.  Find the right practitioner for these services. We recommend practitioners to our patients that we have had success with in the past.

Take Nutrients that Reduce Pain 
Proper, high doses of omega 3 fatty acids (from high quality fish oils), curcumin (turmeric), vitamin C, iso alpha acids, boswella and bromelain reduce inflammation. When inflammation of tissues is reduced, pain goes away or is dramatically reduced. Avoid NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) including ibuprofen and naproxen, and steroids.  These NSAID drugs reduce inflammation and pain, but slow or stop actual healing of the inflamed tissues. NSAIDs can also be very damaging to your gastrointestinal lining when taken for extended periods of time.   

Regenerative Medicine works! 
Injections using prolotherapy, prolozone (proloterapy combined with ozone gas), PRP (platelet rich plasma), and biocellular products (amniotic allograft) are often effective. Biocellular fluids, which often come from donated amniotic tissue are safe and have been studied extensively. Biocellular fluids or amniotic allografts work by healing and strengthening tissues.  We have seen good results treating knees, hips, lower backs, shoulders, elbows, ankles, and necks. Our methods for employing these therapies are more structured and precise. We use ultrasound guided techniques to place the injection exactly where the tissue is most in need of repair. Ultrasound guidance allows for precision needle placement and multiple injections in the damaged joint or tissue, for optimum healing and results. Surgery can be avoided altogether, even when it has been recommended before.

Create Good Posture We fall into bad habits of holding our bodies in unhealthy, static positions.  Head forward, twisted knees, rotated shoulders and hips, all impair symmetry. Impaired physiological symmetry causes joint degeneration, pain, tightness and inflammation.  Supervised stretching including Pilates and Egoscue are fantastic techniques to reform posture and eliminate pain. These exercises should be used instead of surgery whenever possible. It is common for a patient who has been told surgery is the only option, to have fantastic success with stretching and movement exercises. Often surgery is not needed.

It is not ideal to resort to drugs and surgery to handle pain.  Drugs are not curative and cause complications.  Surgery is stressful, requires rehab, may be dangerous for some patients, or may not work. Revision, or the need to repeat a surgical procedure, such as a knee or shoulder replacement is common and traumatic.

At the Institute for Progressive Medicine, we are experts at resolving joint pain. We can help you with the process of evaluation and therapy.

Allan Sosin MD

Click Here for more on Ozone Therapy and Prolozone.
https://www.iprogressivemed.com/prolotherapy/

Click Here for more on Regenerative Medicine
https://www.iprogressivemed.com/regenerative-cell-therapy/

Click Here for more on Supplements for Pain and Inflammation
https://www.iprogressivemed.com/store/?swoof=1&product_cat=pain-inflammation

For more information or to make an appointment, please call us at (949) 600-5100