Indoor Track Season is out... Prolotherapy to the rescue?

I used to be a gymnast. About 13 years ago (at 33), I was tumbling and during one pass I landed and twisted at the same time. I heard a LOUD snapping sound (you could hear it on the other side of the gym!) come from my right knee and, as I was falling to the ground, thought, "Well, that's the end of my gymnastics career."

I had torn the meniscus pretty badly. Eventually, I had surgery where they cut away the damaged part, removing about 25% of the cartilage, and then went into physical therapy.

Therapy did nothing for me. My knee was in pain, I had trouble walking, and my my VMO (the quad muscle on the inside, near your knee) just wasn't working. I spent 18 months getting PT, and I wasn't getting better.

I finally decided to do something that had terrified me, namely, get a prolotherapy treatment.

What scared me about prolo was, well, the big needles they stuck deep into your body to inject the ligaments with a mild irritant. It's freaky to watch.

But I was in pain and this seemed like it might help. After all, nothing else had, so, why not. Besides, a friend of mine was Tom Ravin, one of the best prolo guys in the country.

To make a long story VERY short, a week after my first prolo treatment, I was 90% better!

One more treatment got me to 99%.

I tell this story because, late at night last week I thought, "I wonder if prolo is good for spondylolisthesis?" And, in fact, many people say it is!

So, I called Tom and scheduled an appointment... with a bit of trepidation. This time, though, I wasn't scared about the pain. I knew that after the treatment I could pop a pain-killer and feel more-than fine. But prolo is not cheap and I've now spent a LOT of money on this injury.

I go to see Tom and after his examination he announces, "Your back is not the problem. If spondy was the issue, you would have been having back pain for years. LOTS of people have disc compression like yours without an issue. The REAL problem is that the ligaments that hold your femur to your pelvis are loose and everything else is tightening to try to compensate. I see this all the time and it's really responsive to treatment."

And so, with that contrary diagnosis, Tom stuck a big needle into my hip -- front, back, and side -- and injected the ligaments around my femur.

It felt like I'd been beaten up by a midget in a bar fight. But it also felt right on... every spot Tom hit, was EXACTLY where I'd been experiencing pain. I took that as good sign.

I'm going to get another treatment in 2 weeks... it'll take about 2 months for the effects to really show. So, that knocks me out of the indoor season, but should have me ready to roll for outdoor.

a) Cross your fingers

b) I'll keep you posted!