Medical Reports: Pain Problems

WSVN -- Tracy Scroggins: "I would get up in the morning, and it was difficult for me to stand and walk."

Tracy Scroggins was suffering from chronic pain in his back and knees. Years of playing football for the Detroit Lions has left him with a number of painful injuries.

Tracy Scroggins: "I played ball for ten years in the NFL. Total time of playing football is 28 years of my life."

Now, Pam Kagan is no ball player, but she too was in serious pain.

Pam Kagan: "A couple of years ago I sprained my ankle by tripping over my son's shoe. Normally, you'd think a sprained ankle takes two days or two weeks to heal. Well, after two years I was still under a lot of pain."

After nothing else worked, both Pam and Tracy decided to try a more natural solution. It's called Prolotherapy.

Dr. Alvin Stein: "Prolotherapy is an injection technique that is designed to stimulate the body to heal itself."

Doctor Stein says in some cases it can even help a patient avoid surgery.

Dr. Alvin Stein: "The more the pain goes on, the more the spasm goes on. If you don't tend to it, then you start to get breakdown between the two bones."

This is how it works: Doctors do a complete exam to find out exactly where the pain is. Then a sugar-based solution is injected right into the ligament. That solution sends a message to the body.

Dr. Alvin Stein: "What that does is it signals the body and creates a bruise at that location, and we are signaling the body that there's an injury there, 'Please come fix it.'"

Some patients only need one session, others may need a few treatments. Side effects include soreness, bruising and swelling along the injured spot for about 32 hours after the injection.

Tracy is now retired from the NFL but thinks if this treatment had been around back then ...

Tracy Scroggins: "It would have prolonged my career and, definitely, I would have been able to make a lot more money."

Diana Diaz: "Doctors say Prolotherapy can help patients suffering from most joint-related problems, including arthritis. Most insurance companies don't cover it. Each session costs about $500.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dr. Alvin Stein
4101 NW 4th Street, Suite 401
Plantation, FL 33317
954-581-8585
http://www.proloshot.com/

Prolotherapy
http://www.prolotherapy.org/