When Pain Persists – Chronic Pain Treatment That Works!
Millions of people in this country suffer from low back pain, knee pain, chronic neck pain, foot pain, TMJ, hip pain, and pain in every joint imaginable. Pain severely limits their lives. Many people are unsure about the cause of their pain, and have found no relief. Perhaps you’re one of them. Pain medicines are prescribed, and sometimes surgery is recommended, but the pain continues. Due to wear and tear, hypermobility, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), or after an injury or surgery, very specific tendons or ligaments are not functioning correctly. Exercise doesn’t strengthen the damaged ligaments. And the pain persists. If this sounds like your situation, PRP or prolotherapy may be your answer and Dr. Tucker is a Board Certified Sports Medicine physician who specializes in these therapies.
Gloria Tucker, M.D.
It’s the Tendons and Ligaments!
We use our joints in every activity. The ligaments, which connect bones to bones, can wear out. Ligaments are like twine, and when used over and over they can lose their strength, resulting in a loss of integrity or lax ligaments, which can cause excess motion and/or pain in the joint. As a result, the tendons, which connect muscles to bones, are overworked trying to hold the joints together. This creates a sensation of tightness, which also results in chronic pain.
Dr. Tucker is a Specialist in the Advanced Therapies of PRP, Proliferative Medicine, and Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy, PRP and Ozone therapy is all she does and has done since 2013. She is truly a Board Certified Sports Medicine physician.
Injecting a person’s own blood (PRP) or concentrated sugar water (Dextrose Prolotherapy) into worn tendons and ligaments gives strength to the joints, solving the problem. This can improve – if not completely resolve – the pain! In approaching chronic pain of the musculoskeletal system, the first step is diagnosing which ligaments and tendons are involved, and treating them. At Dr. Tucker’s PRP and Prolotherapy practice in Novato, CA, this is precisely what she does.
Dr. Tucker has mastered the technique of utilizing PRP and prolotherapy for healing ligaments and tendons. She is an instructor with the Hackett-Hemwall-Patterson Foundation, where Dr. Patterson himself was her personal mentor. She has found that using PRP and prolotherapy on the ligaments and tendons is key to the true resolution of chronic pain and joint instability.
Because of its popularity, Proliferative medicine (Dextrose Prolotherapy and PRP therapy) are frequently offered by physicians and other practitioners not trained in its proper use. As important as the treatment itself is the skill and expertise of the person performing it. Dr. Tucker is widely recognized as having “the best hands in the field.”
Dr. Tucker Takes Her Time to Make an Accurate Diagnosis Before PRP and Prolotherapy Treatments
Dr. Tucker’s treatments get to the source of your pain, and take care of it once and for all. Unlike surgery, her treatments are non-invasive, and they don’t just mask the pain the way drug therapy does. Instead, her treatments literally help your own body rebuild the supporting structures around the painful joint, giving you enduring relief for chronic pain such as low back pain or knee pain. Dr. Tucker’s diagnoses and treatments are at the very cutting edge of medicine.
Video of Dr. Tucker Weaving Together
the Analytic Expertise of Traditional Medicine
with the Time-Honored Success
of Alternative Knowledge
Behind the scenes of Gloria Tucker M.D.’s Prolotherapy Office … a short video
Dr. Tucker’s trained hands are accurate and precise,
and she incorporates the added guidance of ultrasound.
Ultrasound
In addtion to using her hands for careful diagnosis and locating the exact areas to treat, Dr. Tucker also uses ultrasound for evaluation and precision in her treatments. This adds an extra layer of safety by improving visibility of the underlying structures.
Because Dr. Tucker is working on specific ligaments and not simply injecting into the joints, the enhanced visibility improves accuracy and effectiveness of her treatments.
What is Proliferative Medicine (also known as Regenerative Medicine and Prolotherapy)?
Proliferative medicine treatment involves carefully addressing each tendon and ligament surrounding an injured joint. Dr. Tucker creates a very precise inflammatory response in the injured tissue, allowing collagen to re-form, and healing to occur. Guided by ultrasound, a series of very specific small injections initiates this response, and effectively tightens and heals the damaged tissue. Once these structures are stable, pain resolves and strengthening can take place.
Proliferative Medicine is the treatment of choice for hypermobile patients (i.e., those diagnosed as “loose-jointed” or with “lax ligaments”), patellar subluxation, recurrent ankle sprain, sacroiliac (SI) instability, low back pain, mid-back pain, hips, knees (especially meniscal injuries), plantar fasciitis, fallen arches, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and most problems in the foot, hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, and neck. It is a great remedy for sports injuries and early arthritis. Other conditions that respond beautifully to Proliferative treatment include Lyme Disease, Fibromyalgia (which is frequently associated with hypermobility), Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and many others. Importantly, as excellent a treatment as Prolotherapy is, PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy can actually be up to five times more effective than Prolotherapy, and Dr. Tucker highly recommends exploring that option with her first.