Ligament Relaxation

How to Correct Ligament Relaxation

Since it is possible with prolotherapy to stimulate ligaments to become stronger and shorter, it is quite easy to understand that it is the treatment of choice in cases where chronic pain is due to ligament relaxation.

The Diagnosis

The symptoms of ligament relaxation are multiple, and the site of the patient's pain depends on the ligament which is strained. It is not unusual for pain to move from place to place in the body. Making a diagnosis is the doctor's responsibility. A number of physicians who have trained in orthopaedic medicine in recent times have made it their business to study these problems. The diagnosis is made first of all by learning from the patient about his pain and where it is, and secondly by sophisticated clinical examination. The diagnosis depends only a very little bit on special tests such as x-rays. These are often obtained to exclude other conditions.

The Modern Use of Prolotherapy

It is almost too simple to need stating that if something is out of place it should first be put back and then kept in place. It is amazing, however, how this very simple concept has been battered by disbelief and institutionalized dogma.

It is to a New Zealand doctor we owe the use of proper examination and diagnosis. He integrated Hackett's understanding of ligament relaxation and its treatment into a comprehensive method or orthopaedic medicine. He also incorporated techniques and materials which ensure the safety of these methods. In the last 25 years, his methods have been used in thousands of cases without complications. It is Milne J. Ongley's teaching which has made prolotherapy available safely and effectively in modern times.

Referred Pain

An inflamed or strained ligament can hurt. Strangely enough it may hurt in the 'wrong place'. Doctors call this "referred pain". Referred pain from ligaments can mimic sciatica, or neuritis, and is often confused with pain due to pressure on a nerve root from an abnormal disc in the spine. Separating these is not always easy, but it is exactly this that the physician prides himself on doing best.

Other Parts of The Body

The principles discussed here are useful in the management of the pain and instability of any part of the musculo-skeletal system. The routine for low back treatment, which is the best known, can be applied very effectively to other parts of the spine. Chronic neck pain and headaches are very often relieved, even after many years of trouble, by Ongley's method.