Causes of TMJ dysfunction are sometimes hard to diagnose. Age and sex are definite factors- woman between 20 and 50 are statistically at a higher risk for TMJ syndrome.

View my new video showing how prolotherapy injections can reduce and possibly even eliminate the pain associated with TMJ syndrome.

Do you suffer from TMJ disorder? What treatments have you tried to seek relief?

By the time I had finished medical school and internship (where I spent as much time as possible doing orthopedic procedures) I had seen too many surgical failures. I even saw a woman die on the table during a hip replacement.

A year after a painful shoulder injury while weight-lifting, I decided to have my orthopedic professor operate on me. It was a “simple” arthoscopic surgery. My arm blew up like a balloon with fluid, and I had a fever. We thought it was an infection. It took a year after my surgery to heal. But it was no better than before the surgery. I later learned about Prolotherapy, injected my own shoulder, and the pain was gone the next day. I never needed the surgery. Later I found out that most patients do not need their elective orthopedic surgeries.

In my clinic, I have many new patients who are ready for surgery, and come in for a second opinion. It is rare that I agree that surgery is the correct option. It can always be used as a last option after more conservative measures are used. The best healing technique I know of in musculoskeletal medicine is Prolotherapy. After the healing of my shoulder and wrist with
Prolotherapy, I began using it on my patients.

Prolotherapy injections are safe and effective in stimulating new tissue growth and rebuilding injured or arthritic areas. It certainly is much less expensive than surgery. A simple orthopedic procedure may be $25,000 or up to $150,000 if it is a back or neck surgery. Some patients tell me that their insurance will pay for it. Well, who pays for the insurance deductible, the lost time from work, the chance of losing your job, the pain and disability that can last for months if the procedure is successful, or a lifetime if the procedure fails.

Did you know, there is a syndrome called, Failed Back Surgery”? Did you know that studies now show that a fake knee surgery has the same success rate as a real knee surgery? Did you know that studies now show that if you have a back surgery or don’t have it, your condition will be about the same? When the risks of surgery are considered, it seems simple
that Prolotherapy is a better answer to your pain.

After Prolotherapy, most people go back to work, or do activities the rest of the day. The typical worst case scenario is stiffness around the injection site. What makes the most sense to you? After many years of watching the poor surgical outcomes that arrive in my office, there is no question that Prolotherapy is an excellent, alternative treatment to surgery in
properly chosen cases.

I hope this helps explain why I think Prolotherapy is a better than invasive surgery.

I wish you great health!

Dr. Darrow

About The Author: Doctor Marc Darrow, M.D. is a board-certified physiatrist and assistant professor at UCLA School of Medicine. As the author of Prolotherapy: Living Pain Free, Dr. Darrow is one of the authorities on Prolotherapy use for pain management and has been featured in Newsweek, ESPN, Men’s Health, Golf Today and Muscle and Fitness.

My name is James Lee and I played on the UCLA Men’s Golf team from 2005-2009. I played golf my whole life and have encountered numerous of injuries. The most critical injury was a tear in the Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex of my left wrist (TFCC) due to the many years of pounding balls.

The wrist pain started when I was a junior golfer but I chose to fight through it and compete with an injured wrist until I could no longer endure the pain. It wasn’t until I got an MRI scan and found out that it was a serious injury which could jeopardize my career. I was informed that the TFCC didn’t have the ability to heal on its own and surgery, which had less than a 75% success rate, was the only other option I had left.

It wasn’t until I was introduced to Dr. Darrow, a Prolotherapist trained at UCLA , that I had another alternative.  Dr. Darrow treated me with Prolotherapy injections, which created collagen to repair the tear. There were no side effects to these shots and with each injection the pain in my wrist slowly subsided. My surgeon then ordered an MRI arthogram.  The results showed complete healing of the TFCC.  The surgery I entertained could have ended my golf career.

I feel fortunate that I was introduced to Prolotherapy before having a surgery that could have ended my golf career. A month ago, I entered my dream and went Pro. I have been playing golf 6 days per week, hitting thousands of golf balls, and to my surgeon’s amazement, pain free. He told me that he has never seen one of these injuries heal without surgery. I am grateful for Prolotherapy and Dr. Darrow.

I first came to see Dr. Darrow on February 25, 2009 with left knee pain that I had for many years.  I live a very active lifestyle and I played football at the collegiate level and in the NFL for many years with the Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and New York Jets.  I have had multiple surgeries on my left knee including left knee reconstruction, tendon graft with a mini-Andrews procedure. Since the initial reconstruction in 1986, I have had 6 arthroscopic procedures on my left knee, as well as multiple cortisone injections.   My left knee was in constant pain and my activities were limited by the pain.

I was referred to Dr. Darrow by a personal trainer and began Prolotherapy treatment on February 25, 2009. I have had 5 Prolotherapy treatments in my left knee and I began to notice decreased pain after the third injection.

After the 5th Prolotherapy injection I was 100% pain free. Needless to say, however, I was very skeptical about Prolotherapy when I first heard about it.

I played my college football at the Universtiy of Iowa, where I selected to the All Big 10 team, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 5th round of the NFL draft. I spent 10 years in the NFL and have undergone many, many orthopedic surgeries, the majority of them on my knees. I had my first knee reconstruction performed in 1986 on my left knee. I have been around all the top orthopods for a very long time and was of the mind that the only way to correct a problem was with surgery. Two years ago I had my 14th procedure performed. It was a scope on my left knee. It continued to bother me, and the pain never subsided. It severely limited my participation in recreational sports and workouts.

I have had 5 Prolotherapy injections by Dr. Darrow over about a 3-month period and am very pleased, and surprised to say that I am now 100% pain free. Little did I know that Prolotherapy has been around for a long time. I would definitely recommend and suggest that you contact Dr. Darrow and discuss his treatment. If it worked for me, I truly think it would work for everyone.

Brett Miller
5/28/09

To help his viewers understand the benefits of Prolotherapy treatments for pain management, he created the educational video below. To watch the video, simply press the play button and make sure your computer has the volume turned on.

To learn more about Prolotherapy treatment and how it provides a safe, effective alternative to invasive surgery for pain relief, please contact my Los Angeles office at (310) 231-7000 or click here to schedule an appointment.

All the best towards living pain free!

Dr. Darrow

About The Author: Doctor Marc Darrow, M.D. is a board-certified physiatrist and assistant professor at UCLA School of Medicine. As the author of Prolotherapy: Living Pain Free, Dr. Darrow is one of the authorities on Prolotherapy use for pain management and has been featured in Newsweek, ESPN, Men’s Health, Golf Today and Muscle and Fitness.

• What is Prolotherapy?
• How is Prolotherapy used to treat chronic pain?
• What are the benefits of Prolotherapy compared to anti-inflammatory drugs?
• Does Prolotherapy work for everyone with pain?

To learn more about Prolotherapy treatment and how it provides a safe, effective alternative to invasive surgery for pain relief, please contact me in my Los Angeles office at (310) 231-7000 or click here to schedule an appointment.

All the best towards living pain free!

Dr. Darrow

About The Author: Doctor Marc Darrow, M.D. is a board-certified physiatrist and assistant professor at UCLA School of Medicine. As the author of Prolotherapy: Living Pain Free, Dr. Darrow is one of the authorities on Prolotherapy use for pain management.

Marc Darrow, a Los Angeles physician, is one of many doctors in the U.S. who offer an amazing new treatment called Prolotherapy. Its name is derived from the word “proliferation,” and its goal is to stimulate the growth of new tissue, repairing damage to worn-out joints and relieving pain and discomfort.

First, the exact location of the pain is found using an acupuncture needle. Then an injection of diluted dextrose and an anesthetic is given. The anesthetic relieves the pain, while the dextrose stimulates the body’s healing response. It does this by acting as a “shock agent,” drawing water from superficial cells and drying out the site. It induces slight, but controlled inflammation, and the healing process is set in motion.

Dr. Darrow emphasizes that inflammation “means the body is responding to an injury or stress to the joint by sending cellular compounds to the damaged area. It’s your body’s way of getting the healing process started.” Once these cellular compounds have done their job, they are replaced by fibroblasts, which begin repairing the damage and forming granular tissue that will become new collagen. Collagen is a major component of the connective tissue found between tendons and ligaments.

A few clinical studies have already confirmed the benefits of Prolotherapy. Researchers at the Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City observed a decrease in pain and swelling in the arthritic knees and fingers of subjects. And this year, Australian researchers at the University of Queensland saw “significant and sustained reductions in pain and disability” after Prolotherapy had been administered to 110 patients with lower-back pain.

Dr. Darrow discovered Prolotherapy after having undergone it himself. During his fourth year of residency at UCLA, while suffering pain from an injured wrist, he met Dr. Andrew Kochan, who used Prolotherapy. After a few weeks of injections, Dr. Darrow was healed. He now gets great satisfaction from helping other people live active lives free of pain, without the need for anti-inflammatory painkillers.

The list of notables who have successfully found relief after using Prolotherapy include former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and baseball legend Ernie Banks.

This simple therapy has the potential to help many older adults walk and move as they did when they were younger, playing tennis again, traveling and shopping without having to rest, and frolicking effortlessly and joyfully with their grandchildren.

This article reproduced courtesy of The Journal of Longevity. Mohammad Khalid received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago. His research has included the design and synthesis of peptides, which have far-reaching implications for maintaining health. In his position as Director of Research and Development at Gero Vita International, he is au courant on scientific advances around the globe.

It is very interesting because I have used Prolotherapy injections on so many patients from professional athletes to flight attendants. The more my patients learn about Prolotherapy - compared to invasive surgery - the more they see the benefits. That is one of the reasons I started this website and blog, The Prolotherapy Institute.

As I tell my patients, I have used Prolotherapy to manage or eliminate pain in many different parts of the body including the back, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the hands, the arms, the hips and, even, headaches. While Prolotherapy does not work with 100% of my patients, about 80%-90% of them will experience favorable results after Prolotherapy treatments.

In light of the information above, I would suggest that many patients are using Prolotherapy as a safe, effective treatment for chronic and acute pain.

All the best towards living pain free!

Dr. Darrow

About The Author: Doctor Marc Darrow, M.D. is a board-certified physiatrist and assistant professor at UCLA School of Medicine. As the author of Prolotherapy: Living Pain Free, Dr. Darrow is one of the authorities on Prolotherapy use for pain management. To schedule a consultation or appointment with Dr. Darrow in his Los Angeles, California office, please click here.

In fact, I was recently referenced in an ESPN Magazine article about Prolotherapy. Here is what Eddie Matz, from ESPN wrote about my use of Prolotherapy treatments with NFL football players and well-known actresses:

Just because an athlete shoots up doesn’t mean he is on juice. Could be he is hooked on sugar. That’s the idea behind Prolotherapy, an alternative to surgery that is catching on with jocks and celebs alike. From turf toes to torn rotator cuffs, Prolo patients receive anesthetic-laced sugar-water injections directly into an injury once a week for four to eight weeks.

These sessions stimulate the immune system and induce proliferation (hence “Prolo”) of collagen and cartilage. (Proliferation means to grow or multiply by rapidly producing new tissue, parts, cell, or offspring) The results? “Ligaments that are 50% thicker and as much as 400% stronger,” says LA physiatrist Marc Darrow, whose clients include Kansas City Chiefs wideout Johnnie Morton (pelvic pain) and actress Sally Kirkland (knee and foot).

Dr. John McShane, a sports-medicine specialist who works with the Phillies is dubious. “There are no studies to back up these claims,” McShane says. “If a ligament is injected, it becomes inflamed, and scar tissue is created.” Which doesn’t mean it is stronger.

Still, Dr. Darrow is hardly discouraged by detractors-or by canceled appointments. “A lot of my patients I never see again,” he says. “That either means they’re healed or they hate me.” Heavyweight Lamon Brewster is firmly in the former camp. “My knees, my back-everything feels great,” he says. “The best recovery I’ve ever had.” Sweet!

Please stay tuned as Dr. Darrow uses this blog to keep you updated on the latest news, research and patient success stories specific to Prolotherapy.