Here are the doctors, nurses and volunteers who headed down to inject prolotherapy in Honduras this year. It was my third opportunity to work in Honduras, where we helped many hurting people at clinics in 3 small towns there. It is such a privilege to do this, teaching, learning and helping. My lecture there this year was on wrist prolotherapy - we take it in turns to present topics. The Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation is such an excellent teaching organization  based in Wisconsin, where we meet up with good friends that we have made from different countries. In addition the foundation also sends down an Ear, Nose and Throat team as well as a Varicose Vein and Ulcer team. What a difference they make!

This is an important topic of interest to all physicians: that we should strive towards evidence-based medicine whenever possible. For this reason we have reorganized our website with a page dedicated solely to worthy studies, rather than include them in the links page. We encourage you to visit periodically as we add new studies when they become available. 

The CAOM holds annual conferences in Regenerative Medicine and this year we met in Vancouver. It is always stimulating to listen to excellent speakers in the field, meet old colleagues and new, and exchange information that makes all of us better practitioners. This year we heard an excellent talk on nutrition and its importance by Dr Aileen Burford-Mason - this will have its own blog entry. In addition we had workshops on prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma and ultrasound-guided techniques. Erik Ouellette, well-respected prolotherapist from Ontario gave a great lecture on injecting the shoulder, and followed up by doing just that. Physicians presented new research studies, some so new they haven't been published quite yet, and our North Vancouver colleague Dr Helene Bertrand discussed her positive shoulder prolotherapy study which has been accepted for publication. Kelowna physician Dr Francois Louw piqued our interest with favourable early trends in his TMJ (jaw) pain study. We came away tired but grateful to belong to such a good organization. 

More people are becoming familiar with platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. This is an effective treatment for musculoskeletal pain which involves having your blood drawn, much like a lab test, centrifuging it into red cells, white cells and platelets, and removing the concentrated platelet section containing liquid gold growth factors (and there are many of these!). This PRP is injected into the area of concern (for example the knee joint) to begin the regeneration of healthy tissue needed for recovery. PRP is similar to prolotherapy in that it stimulates tissue repair, but it can speed up the healing process enormously. Our new system provides a whopping 8x concentration of the platelets and we think this leads to its effectiveness. While not guaranteed to work for everyone, it is gratifying for most. For more information see our updated FAQ page; and also our Links page for some studies on platelet-rich plasma.

Botox injections can provide very effective relief from migraine. If you have an extended medical plan this treatment may be more affordable than you think. Botox is thought to mediate pain by blocking the release of substances our bodies make (CGRP) which cause pain, as well as by relaxing some of the tense muscles around the face and neck. It prevents or lessens migraine intensity and frequency for at least 3 months before it needs to be repeated again. The procedure involves very superficial injections with tiny needles and is tolerated well and doesn't take long. Relief is in sight! Note: this is a preventative treatment meaning if it is effective, you won't suffer nearly as many migraines during the 3 months after treatment.

An interesting study was published recently. Having a knee arthroscopy (a surgical procedure with a "telescope" looking into the knee, and cleaning out any part that is rough or loose) does not improve pain. Many, many people suffer from knee arthritis and so this is helpful in deciding on a course of action. Having a knee replacement may be the eventual answer, but in the mean time regenerative injections (perineural injecting of dextrose, or prolotherapy, or PRP) can be a big help in reducing symptoms, and may even prevent the "kneed" to do surgery at all. 

Here are feverfew and echinacea enjoying the summer heat; and the remains of the valerian - no crimson flowers as the deer decided they suffered insomnia and took the lot...

The University of BC regularly sends out articles by physicians who have found some aspect of medicine has changed the way they practice. I have been meaning to send them my views on the subject and here they are! Thank you to the many patients over the years who have taught me so much about the treatment of pain.

In April's blog I described Neurokinetic Therapy - a system of muscle testing and correcting imbalances. David and I are now officially level one certified in this technique and you will notice us  incorporating NKT as a helpful method of honing in on the cause of pain. Always good to have an exam over!