Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator
Post count: 8660

I understand that you carry a heavy burden as you have had poor experiences with the medical system and do not trust doctors.

Cord injury many times is irreversible. Leaving an unstable neck for fear of the surgery is not a good tradeoff in my opinion. Yes, surgery is a risk but the potential of paralysis or even death by your explanation of the disorder is not low.

Yes, in some studies, fusion for lower back pain has a poor record but I just finished a study of about 40 patients with a 90% satisfaction rate. You also know that your potential surgery is not fusion for lower back pain.

“Harms’ is the last name of the surgeon who developed one of the techniques to fuse C1 to C2. His name should in no way influence your decision as a “totem”.

You have had very bad experiences with doctors and are looking for published bad results as a way to justify your ill feeling of the medical profession. Realize that the medical profession does publish these bad results instead of pushing them under the rug in an effort to be open and transparent. Many of the “bad results” papers I would disagree with as poorly designed studies or poor patient selection.

I do not think prolotherapy is a good idea in your case. I could bring up many articles regarding significant complications with prolotherapy. Every tool has usefulness and potential complications. It is up to you and the physician to discuss these and decide if the risk is worth the benefit.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
 
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.