Dr. Ingrid Gheen: Testimonials
Prolotherapy and my remediation journey.

As most of my friends and acquaintances know I have been unable to play squash
for well over a year due to knee issues, degeneration of the cartilage being the main
culprit. I have been working with the wonderful Dr Steven Bernstein (Summit
Orthopedics and AussieNick) during this time, however an arthroscopy in January
2007 showed that little could be done barring a knee replacement. ‘Fine’ I said ‘ let’
s do it.’

‘Not fine,’ said Steven, at least not for several years.

I have played squash for 30 years on average 3- 4 times per week and coached up
to 7 hours per day – no wonder my joints were starting to complain. What do you do
when your doctor tells you that you can’t participate in something that has made up
a major part of your life – socially, physically, psychologically – determining who you
are – your job, sense of self and place in the community. There are two ways to go –
one was to yell, scream, rant and shout about how unfair life is the other is to take it
philosophically ‘well 30 years is a pretty good innings, I can go and explore other
activities etc’. Ok so I went the latter route much to the amazement of my close
friends. The process was aided by my job which now sees me in more of
managerial capacity overseeing programming for Sport & Health squash and
racquetball at a dozen clubs.

So I hit the elliptical and swam and aren’t those two activities a hoot! OK so they
aren’t that bad, they are just not for me – the main reason being that I can’t socialize
while doing them. I asked Steven again about the knee replacement, however he
wouldn’t budge.

Patricia, a friend and fellow squash player mentioned that her knee had greatly
improved since a few sessions with prolotherapy…..prolo what? I found out that it is
an injection (well lots actually) of fluid (with sugar or other substances) into the
problem area see www.prolotherapy.com At the same time, David who spends his
life on the net, sent me the same link, ‘why not try this’ he said.

I met with Dr Gheen and asked for a referral. The referral was to a Racquetball
pro who had similar issues to me. She had played for 3 decades, experienced
success in National and International tourneys then experienced knee issues.
She stated that her knee had improved 75% over the 4 or so sessions she had
received. ‘No way,’ I thought, I’d be delighted if I could get 30% better meaning I
would not have to wear my brace when coaching after this amount of sessions. I
checked with Steven who said ‘It won’t hurt you.’

Off I went to Rockville for my first session, the first 21 injections (tiny nip like
things) didn’t hurt (they were the numbing injections) however the real 21
injections that followed were ‘interesting’ - an unusual sort of pain that goes right
through the bone (a little like the pain I experienced with a cortisone shot). ‘Yes,’
agreed Dr Gheen, it is a funny pain.’ Actually funny was not the word that came to
mind and it was a little painful but all over in a couple of minutes and then
painkillers (Tylenol) needed for the next 36 hrs.

So did it work?

I’m surprised to say that it did, I have improved 30% after the first session. I was
able to get on the elliptical for 30 minutes without my brace and also to walk 1
mile without my knee feeling substantial pain. (I have not been able to do this
since last year). My goal for the series of 3 or 4 sessions was to have been able
to coach without a brace, well I’ve already done that. Time to refine this to a fairly
ambitious goal – to play Div 3 standard.

Aug 20 – 2nd session.  Much less painful injections. More to follow later in the
week

Connie Barnes 20-August-2007

What can I say, maybe it’s just that it working great for me but the knee is feeling
good. I played a little with Jacqueline and a friend soon after the injections then
thought I’d challenge Mehmood (that was always pretty funny when I was fit!)  
more like “why don’t you just stand there Mehmood & I’ll run round and round
you” rather than rallying! Mehmood was his usual kind self but I actually felt like
…….a squash player again!
squash testimonial
I dusted off my squash bag (wouldn’t think I’d be using that again) and asked if I
could join a couple of Div 3 players for a couple of games yesterday. (Thanks
Samer and Richard).  They were being kind though I felt that my 2 game one loss
7-9, one win with a similar score, was a great start………..I am a squash player
again!..............

Not to take anything for granted I am planning on commencing leg strength
exercises to help the afflicted area and will be linking up with one of the PTs this
week.

Another round of shots in 2 weeks…..this is exciting!

Connie Barnes 26-August-2007
The following testimonial was published online at AussieNick Squash and
copied verbatim here (bold added). Please note that the source website
may have since been updated.