About Dr. Gloria Tucker M.D.
Dr. Gloria Tucker M.D., is a medical doctor in the state of California. Dr. Tucker did her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1983. She attended the University of Southern California Medical School from 1983 to 1987. Dr. Gloria Tucker completed her residency in Internal Medicine in San Francisco and became Board Certified in Internal Medicine in 1990. She practiced that discipline for 10 years at the Kaiser Medical Center in Petaluma, California. In 1999, Dr. Tucker became Board Certified in Sports Medicine. In 2000, she joined the Orthopedic Department at Kaiser in Santa Rosa, where she practiced until 2013. Dr. Gloria Tucker is also a Certified Yoga Instructor and a former instructor of Musculoskeletal anatomy.
Dr. Gloria Tucker M.D., is extremely passionate about Prolotherapy, because it changed her life!
"I am hypermobile, that is, I have always had loose-limbed joints. Yoga was easy for me and I loved gymnastics as a child. In Medical School, I became a long distance runner and did lots of mountain biking. However, I began having chronic low back and hip problems which I didn’t understand.", said Dr. Gloria Tucker. So, she started spending a great deal of time at the Medical Library at UCSF reading all about lower back and hip problems. She attended multiple medical conferences in musculoskeletal medicine. Although Dr. Tucker was already board certified in Internal Medicine, she went back and got her boards in Sports Medicine.
Back Pain
Dr. Tucker stopped running and biking, and started swimming. This helped in some ways, but her back still hurt. She saw many doctors and tried strengthening exercises. These exercises made the pain worse. Using cortisone on her back and hip, helped but for a very short time. The pain always returned. Dr. Tucker even had surgery on her hip, which did not help with the pain. Every morning, she would lay in bed, not wanting to get up. Because of this unbearable pain, she used to wonder what would become of her. It was a very hard time. Although Dr. Tucker continued to swim, in order to stay strong, she couldn’t walk for more than a half a mile without feeling pain. She also started gaining weight.
Finally, Dr. Gloria Tucker M.D., saw a Chiropractor who really helped her. "The pain was relieved when he manipulated my back. But, in a few hours, it returned.", she said. Dr. Tucker did this for about a year. She tried to strengthen her core, but many of the exercises made the pain worse. Then, she saw a doctor who told her that she needed prolotherapy. "We did it, and it was life changing! Now, I can go to a Pilates class, ride my bike again, and go on long walks. But most importantly, I get out of bed every morning without pain!", Dr. Tucker said.
Prolotherapy
"It saved my life. I felt so hopeful again, and I knew that it would be unethical of me not to let people know about this treatment.", Dr. Gloria Tucker M.D. said.
I was glad that I had learned musculoskeletal anatomy when I became a sports medicine doctor and had been teaching anatomy and physiology for many years, but the training to become a good prolotherapist required intensive study. I went to many many courses and did very serious training through the Hackett Hemwall Foundation where the most respected prolotherapists in the world come together to teach and learn. I am now proud to say that I am an instructor for other doctors to learn Prolotherapy through the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation.
For the last seven years consecutively, Dr. Tucker has gone to Honduras to treat pain in underserved people using Prolotherapy. After training arduously in these techniques, I offered them to my patients at Kaiser where I was able to treat two patients with prolotherapy per day. Very quickly, I had a 3 1/2 month waiting list. Unfortunately, this is not covered by Kaiser Insurance and I had to stop. But I saw how many people were helped by this, and I decided to start my own practice specializing in Prolotherapy, PRP, and Peri-Neural Injection Therapy. In 2013, I opened my own practice with my background in accurate musculoskeletal diagnoses and these life-changing treatment modalities.They work wonders.
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) is another way to treat ligamentous instability and osteoarthritis using plasma from the patient's own body. In patients with more severe ligamentous problems or even tears, this is an effective treatment, since not only collagen is laid down, but growth factors and cytokines (which are part of the platelet rich plasma) strongly aide in tissue repair. This procedure is the very one that got Steph Curry back in action with his torn meniscus!
Not everyone has pain due to ligamentous instability and tendon tightening, some people have intractable pain due to their nerves. Therefore, I learned another effective treatment for pain called, Peri-Neural Injection Therapy, and I now offer this treatment to those people who have unusual pain syndromes. It is elegant, simple, and it works.
Dr. Tucker teaching physicians
Prolotherapy in Honduras