So much has happened over the past couple weeks concerning my shoulder journey. I had a session with an advanced Vortex Healing energy therapist, Nathan Whiteside, who worked on the subtle energies (divine webbing, energy bodies, etc) of my shoulder. I am familiar with this work, because I actually trained it (not to as accomplished a level as Nathan!) perhaps 10 years back. On a completely different wave length, I was in a professional training this past weekend at UCSF in the Orthopedics & Physical Therapy center, where we learned how to use Myofascial Decompression. Think Chinese Medicine Cupping along areas of fascial restriction. Lots of bruising and painful practicing involved. The results were pretty good though, and my shoulder got some deep work by Dr DaPraddo, the instructor.
Then today, I met with Dr Donna Alderman of Hemwall Center for Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine (www.prolotherapy.com) in Alameda. She’s an Osteopathic physician who specializes in injection therapy for athletic injuries. I received a motion ultrasound, which was neat. It’s like a functional MRI, where you can actually see tissue movement and function with movement. Based on our discussion and her findings, it sounds like there’s a 90% success rate for me going through this procedure. There are several options, including traditional prolotherapy, using a type of sugar mixture to stimulate growth. But what would most likely work best for me is a variation on this using Stem Cells derived from my blood plasma and body fat. A third option is using Stem Cells from Bone Marrow (luckily, that type of Stem Cell works better elsewhere in the body, so I won’t have to go through that more painful harvesting procedure!). The idea is that once these cells are harvested and isolated, they’re then injected directly where there is tissue breakdown, via the real-time ultrasound as a guide. This stimulates tissue regeneration, and within several weeks to possibly a few months, there should be significant improvement. One huge plus with this type of intervention over traditional surgery, is that in surgery, much of the healing is from the damage caused by the surgery itself! And unlike surgery, I wouldn’t have to be in an arm sling for 4 weeks followed by months of rehab from not using my arm for so long. Instead, there is NO sling required, and only a couple days of arm rest! The only downside is that it’s considered experimental so insurance doesn’t pay! Even though Prolotherapy has been around since the 1930’s, it’s still not in the mainstream. But it’s worth every penny if it means I won’t have to be out of my practice for 4-6 months!