Freedom From Pain Without Surgery
By Mllly Harris
When Nassir Assim turned thirty, he envisioned a life filled with happiness and prosperity. Spending time with his children and his wife and making a name for himself at his Wail Street job were F, is top priorities. Never did he imagine that before he would turn tbrp/. his life would be turned upside-down by excruciating pain.
Assin, is one of millions of people who suffer from debilitating neck and back pain. Over the course of five years, he consuited with physicians, chiropractors, acupuncmrists, nutritionists and herbalists, hoping to pu: an end to his pain. Yet his situation did not improve, and gradually, his weekly basketball games with his son, his exercise routine, and even his hunting---came to a complete halt. His constant pain and headaches made even the easiest of tasks unbearable. In an attempt to get rid of the pain, his doctors had him on regular pain-killers.
Reconstructive therapy--a non-surgical treatment that involves the injection of nutritional substances into the supporting tissues around an injured joint--is offering new hope to people affected by debilitating pain. Dr. Richard Ash, director of the The Ash Center in New York, explains that the intent is to "provoke a controlled inflammation that stimulates the body's own healing responses. Inflammation is the beginning of the healing process."
Assim consulted with Dr. Ash, who put him on a reconstructive therapy program. After only three treatments, Assim reports, his pain has greatly been alleviated, and he has regained full use of his back. Although it will take eight to twelve treatments to fully heal the area. Assim has already been able to pick up where he left off. "I feel like I'm ready to run a New York City, Marathon," he says.
Why all the pain?
Ligaments, tendons, cartilage, discs and joints receive very limited blood supply and consequently tend to have a poor healing ability. Ligaments have three functions: they connect bones to bones, they limit the range of motion and movement between bones, and they are the primary stabilizers of joints. When injury, occurs to a joint, the ligaments are often tom off the bone, or become lax and stretched. A joint which has a torn or lax ligament has more friction, since the ligaments are unable to properly stabilize the area. in an attempt to stabilize the joint, the body may form bone spurs or develop arthritis, resulting in loss of mobility in the joint, pain, and lack of endurance.
Cartilage and discs are found in weight-bearing joints and function as shock absorbers. When discs or cartilage are worn down or are surgically removed, the spacing in the joint changes, causing the ligaments to become lax and the joint to become unstable. This will also cause increased friction, arthritic spurring, and a loss of motion.
Reconstructive Therapy
According to Dr. Ash, "reconstructive therapy involves the injection of various nutritional solutions directly into arthritic joints, or into weakened or pulled tendons. These solution cause the dilation of blood vessels, which allow healing cells (called fibroblasts) to travel to the weakened area in order to strengthen it."
Dr. William Faber, in his book, Pain Pain Go Away, indicates that "in a study conducted in the 1950s by surgeon George Hackerr, M.D., 1,600 patients with severe sacroiliac sprain were treated with reconstructive injections. When the patients were examined by independent physicians two to twelve years later, eighty-two percent had remained free of pain or recurrences." Dr. Faber further notes that Dr. Hackert's experiments were confirmed by two later studies conducted in 1983 and 1985 by the University of Iowa's department of orthopedic research. In addition, he states, in 1987, a study conducted at the Sansum Medical Clinic of Santa Barbara, concluded that eighty-eight percent of patients with chronic back pain who received reconstructive therapy demonstrated moderate to marked improvement.
Reconstructive therapy is not only for people with back and neck injury, explains Dr. Ash. The treatment can be used to help people with arthritis, torn ligaments or cartilage, degenerated discs, bursitis, bunions, carpal tunnel syndrome, and basically any joint that keeps popping, snapping, or grinding. Reconstructive therapy' can be a successful alternative to surgery. "Many patients," says Dr. Ash. "wish they had heard about reconstructive therapy before resorting to surgical methods of treatment."
For more information about reconstructive therapy, contact The Ash Center for Comprehensive Medicine (212) 758-3200. You can listen to Dr. Ash every Sunday 5:00 -7:00 PM 710AM WOR Radio.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Reconstructive therapy promotes the body's own natural healing ability.
- It allows the natural functions of the body to be regained and optimized
- It minimizes use of drugs in a non-surgical approach.
- In a double blind human study where neither the patients nor the researchers knew specifically who was receiving the treatment 88.5% of those injected with the reconstructive solution showed improvement.
- Reconstructive therapy is capable of increasing the strength and structure of ligaments and tendons 30-40% over normal
- Results are permanent.
- No down time.
- No significant side effects in experienced hands.
- Very conservative treatment doesn't remove parts like surgery.
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