Healing Joint and Back Injuries: A Proven Approach to Ending Pain and Avoiding Unnecessary Surgery

Joseph Valdez, MD
Greenleaf Book Group Press (2009)
ISBN 9781929774791
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/09)


After three sets of spinal epidural injections and one set of trigger point injections, I am still frustrated from chronic pain and time lost from work due to medical treatments and being unable to do my normal activities.  Tomorrow, I have another appointment with a neurologist to review MRI results of my neck, unless, of course, the appointment is rescheduled again.  I have been dealing with these frustrations since I was in a car accident in September of last year.

I was thrilled to be able to get my hands on this book, especially the night before I have the doctor appointment; so thrilled in fact that I read it in one sitting.  Probably not the best thing for my neck, but I feel much more armed with information that can give me an explanation of what I am going through and possible options for alternative treatments, especially if surgery is mentioned.

Dr. Valdez has done an excellent job in describing a variety of injuries, medical tests, and options for treating the pain.  I found his material to be very comprehensive and easy to understand.  He uses many visual examples to further illustrate his explanations.  While he is very positive about the benefits of prolotherapy, he discusses the pros and cons of all types of treatments and when they should be used in conjunction with each other.

Prolotherapy is a new term for me.  It refers to “a series of drug-free injections into and around injured joints to stimulate the body’s natural healing response and repair and strengthen tendons and ligaments.  Prolotherapy works best on people with soft tissue injuries.  Dr. Valdez discusses many cases in which this treatment was very effective for patients.  Many of these patients had already undergone surgery which resulted in more pain for them.  In addition to educating oneself on this subject, Dr. Valdez also provides information so that the reader knows if they would benefit from this therapy and then how to follow through with it by locating a doctor that does this type of treatment.

People who are dealing with chronic pain must read this book, “Healing Joint and Back Injuries,” by Joseph Valdez, MD.  Educating oneself should be the first step of any treatment.  The next step is following through with a plan of action that will provide the best results.  Being that prolotherapy is relatively noninvasive as opposed to surgery I would hope that most people would be able to try this treatment first.  It definitely gives me some hope for a pain free future!

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