A case of chronic lower back pain
Marc Darrow, M.D.

I was a competitive gymnast in high school and during college at UCLA. My main event was the palmar horse, but I also worked floor exercise and parallel bars. I think doing that abused my body in some crazy ways. I used to jump rope on my back and I used to cliff dive a bit. I surfed since I was a kid, and my body took a real beating. I have always just thrown my body in crazy positions, very flexible. I have always been very flexible, you know, and I've always been pretty active physically. As a result of that I think that may have caused some of the problems with my lower back. I used to have the upper back and neck problems, but I started to do Yoga and that seemed to take care of that, but when it came to my lower back, I never really had any success trying to treat that.

Probably in my late 20's I first noticed it when I was raking leaves and I reached for some leaves. I think the first time I really felt a twinge in my lower back, and then from that point on I think I started to feel more and more the strain on my lower back when I would sit for long periods of time or when I would stand. I couldn't even shop. I couldn't even stand around and shop because it was too hard on my back. I always had to find a place to sit down. I started to go to chiropractors and a friend of mine was a chiropractor, so I went to him because it was free. That seemed to help it. Going to a chiropractor would help it briefly. Like, I would go in if my neck was out, or if my lower back was sore, that would help a lot for a short period of time, maybe a few days. And then, it would sort of just creep right back in again, the soreness and the stiffness. Over the years it just got worse and worse to the point where it started to keep me from doing things from surfing or playing volleyball or just running. I did run for many years, but I stopped doing that because of my lower back. It would go in waves. I would have like a bad back for three weeks where I couldn't do much, then it would go away, and I would be okay for a couple of weeks, then it would come back. It would go like that constantly. It never really let up for long periods of time.

I went to many different chiropractors and did a lot of different things. I went to different kinds of chiropractors, people who adjusted in all different ways. I got into Yoga. I did acupuncture, herbs, muscle relaxants, and mind over back pain. Everything I did, you know, nothing was a failure, but nothing really fixed my back. There was nothing that I really felt… all of them for a short amount of time felt like, oh that's it. Chiropractic never really did seem to do that because I knew that it was just a temporary thing. So, I never did strength for anything though. It was always flexibility. Because of my gymnastic background, I was really into flexibility, so I would do a lot of that. But, over the years I started to do less with my lower back, and less and less. I would always avoid doing anything where I was trying to use any strength with my lower back. I always stayed away from lifting weights and I think that may have caused a problem, because of the weakening of that whole area.

So, finally, about six or maybe about eight months ago my back started to hurt again and this time it lasted for probably… it was going for about five months when I started to get a little desperate, because I usually would get pretty depressed. I couldn't sit in a chair and write, which is what I do now. I couldn't sit for more than half an hour. I was actually finding myself lying in bed working, and that became pretty depressing. So, a friend of mine recommended Prolotherapy to me and I had no idea what it was. I never heard of it before. Then, I read an article by C. Everett Koop saying he recommended it. I started looking into it and I found out more about it and it really made sense to me, just the Prolotherapy by itself. And, she said that she had instant relief. So, I was very interested. Then, I went in and talked to Dr. Darrow and I talked to him about it, and that same day he gave me injections. It was pretty uncomfortable because I don't really take injections very well, needles jabbed into my lower back. You know I don't think anybody really likes that. But, after that he started giving me an anesthetic in the areas where he would give me the shots. That made all the difference in the world. I didn't dread going in anymore after that.

PLEASE BE ADVISED: PATIENT'S STORIES HEREIN, AND THE LANGUAGE USED, IS INTENDED TO INFORM AND EDUCATE. HOWEVER, IT DOES NOT IMPLY THAT YOU OR ANYONE ELSE WILL RECEIVE THE SAME OUTCOME. PROLOTHERAPY AND OTHER MODALITIES MENTIONED ARE MEDICAL TECHNIQUES THAT MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED MAINSTREAM. AS WITH ANY MEDICAL PROCEDURE, RESULTS WILL VARY AMONG INDIVIDUALS, AND THERE COULD BE PAIN OR SUBSTANTIAL RISKS INVOLVED. THESE CONCERNS SHOULD BE DISCUSSED WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER PRIOR TO ANY TREATMENT SO THAT YOU HAVE PROPER INFORMED CONSENT AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES TO HEALING.

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