Prolotherapy
for Foot
and Toe Pain
Ross Hauser, M.D.
In our practice, we treat foot injuries
every day. Many of these are sports
injuries. Most sports involve running, where
the majority of foot and toe injuries occur.
Dancing, most
often ballet, has also been shown to cause
extensive pain to the dancer’s feet.
Plantar Fasciitis
The pain associated with plantar fasciitis
is usually described as pinpoint or
knife-like pain in the heel pad. Pain is
usually worse in the morning, when the
plantar fascia is stiff, cold, or tensed.
The pain is caused when the damaged tissue
is stretched, so when the person begins to
bear weight on the foot, the pain level is
very high, but lessens as he/she continues
to walk/run, presumably as the plantar
fascia becomes more flexible. The pain
typically originates very gradually;
starting only with pain at the beginning of
exercise. However, without appropriate
treatment; even walking becomes too painful.
Plantar
fasciitis can occur for any number of
reasons, most having their root in simple
overuse. The pain is a result of the
weakness of the plantar fascia, which then
inflames. The body uses inflammation to
heal, but traditional sports medicine uses
anti-inflammatory drugs and cold compresses
to reduce the inflammation. By getting rid
of the inflammation, the body has then
stopped trying to heal the weakness of the
plantar fascia, leaving the patient with an
injury, though the pain may be gone
temporarily. Unfortunately it returns with a
vengeance and can be debilitating, often
causing athletes to abort their plans for
sporting events. Don’t fret, we know of a
solution.
Heel
Spurs
A heel spur forms because the plantar fascia
is barely connected. Thus, the heel spur is
not the cause of the pain, but rather the
result of plantar fasciitis. By
administering Prolotherapy, the
spur-producing process stops. This idea is
applicable to any osteoarthritis process in
the body. Prolotherapy stops every
arthritis-producing processes because it
corrects the root of the problem, which is
tendon, ligament, and fascia weakness.
Prolotherapy has corrected many a foot
problem that would otherwise have had to
have surgery that is often unsuccessful.
Turf
Toe
Turf toe is a very common condition among
football players, as well as other “turf”
sports. The combination of synthetic grass
(turf) and light, flexible football cleats
wreak havoc on the ligaments in the great
toe. Turf toe is, simply, a sprain of the
ligament of the great toe. This injury is
most likely to occur then two linemen are
pushing against each other. Their feet are
held in place in the turf by their cleats,
and the force exerted to move the other
player causes extension of the
metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ).
Some may question the significance of a great toe injury, but a study done by the University of Arkansas reported an average of six turf toe cases per year. In the same study, there was an average of 24.7 ankle sprains per year, during the same period. And yet turf toe was the reason for seven missed games, while ankle sprains were the cause of only six missed games (Coker, T. American Journal of Sports Medicine).
Why were these
players side-lined? Turf toe may cause
severe and chronic pain. If there is an
injury to the MPJ, it can lead to prolonged
disability, because the MPJ joint is vital
to walking. This is the joint involved in
the push-off phase of walking and running.
If untreated, turf toe can cause hallux
rigidus, or an immobile joint in the great
toe (see foot figure above). Other long-term
injuries include painful arthritis and
bunions.
Three
problems, one treatment
All three of these injuries can be treated
with Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy is the
safest and most effective treatment we know
of for repairing injuries to tendons,
ligaments, and cartilage. Prolotherapy
stimulates the body to repair the injuries
by creating a mild inflammatory reaction in
the weakened ligaments and tendons in the
foot. The inflammation causes an increase in
blood flow to the injured site, which
signals the body that the area needs to be
healed. In the simplest terms, Prolotherapy
stimulates healing. This happens because
Prolotherapy is directed at the source of
the pain: the fibro-osseous junction, an
area rich in sensory nerves. The tissue
strengthening and pain relief in
Prolotherapy is nearly always permanent!
