Dr. Alvin Philipose DC/ Charnelle Dean APRN
Prolotherapy Injections Specialist Near Me in Oklahoma City, OK

405.848.7246
Venturis logo
Menu
close
Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is a common problem that severely impacts the quality of your life. It can limit your ability to be active. It can make you to miss work. Many different causes may lead to pain in your lower back.
Call to Schedule a Complimentary Consultation
405.848.7246
Ask about Digital Motion X-Ray Imaging
Offering variety of pain management solutions 

Lower Back Pain Treatment: A Venturis Clinic Perspective

Low back pain is one of the most common conditions we treat at the Venturis Clinic. Up to 80% of all people will suffer from low back pain at some point in their life and it’s the number one cause of disability in the United States. The reason why low back pain is so common is because the low back, the lumbar spine, undergoes the most amount of stress over the course of your lifetime.
It’s important to treat low back pain once it occurs, if not, it can lead to degeneration down the road. Dr. Alvin Philipose has seen a lot of people in his 2 offices that may have gotten into an accident or had an injury in high school that they don’t treat for 10 or 20 years, causing the effects to escalate over time making it much more difficult to fix.
The difference between an acute and chronic low back pain is that acute pain means something traumatic has happened and you can pinpoint the cause of the pain, usually within the first 72 hours of the injury. Chronic pain means you’ve been dealing with this problem for longer than three months, at this time, you may not even know what caused it in the first place.
There’s many different things that can create low back pain such as muscle problems, ligament issues, joint problems, and disc issues. While each one of these individually can lead to low back pain, it’s truly important to find the root cause of our lower back pain. At Venturis Clinic, Dr. Alvin Philipose makes sure that he will address all four of these potential problem areas by doing an exam to decide what’s actually causing the problem.

How We Treat Lower Back Pain at Venturis Clinic

Comprehensive Consultation and Exam

Treating low back pain starts with a comprehensive history and consultation with Dr. Alvin Philipose who is really going to listen to what’s been going on. One of the most common issues we hear from patients who come into our office is that they feel like they haven’t been heard when they’ve spoken to other doctors previously. So with this being said, Dr. Alvin Philipose is going to make sure that we get a full history of what’s been happening.

Specific Chiropractic Care | Oklahoma City and surrounding areas

At Venturis Clinic, specific chiropractic care is the most important thing that Dr. Alvin Philipose do for patients suffering from low back pain. Most spinal dysfunction is created by something called subluxation – where a single vertebra in the spine has either become misaligned or is not moving properly with the vertebra above and below. When that happens, it irritates the nerves that come out in between the vertebrae and that leads to symptoms like pain down an arm or a leg, tight muscles, even disc issues.
Our goal with specific chiropractic care is to take pressure off of the nerves and restore proper function to your spine. Once that is done, a lot of the symptoms that you may be suffering from will start to go away.
The next step is going to be a thorough, comprehensive exam where we administer chiropractic, functional orthopedic, and neurological exams. Our goal with these exams is to find the root cause of the problem. Sometimes pain is more a symptom than the actual root cause. Finding the root cause allows us to permanently fix the situation.

Customized Stretching For Your Condition

Many low back pain cases are due to muscle weakness or imbalance, particularly in the core muscles. At Venturis Clinic, we have a functional stretching area where we will customize a plan for you based on your functional assessment. In your exam, we’ll assess how you move and we’ll create stretch plans that address those specific functional deficiencies. Not only will we be helping you in the office, but we’ll also give you a plan to do at home so that function is restored as quickly as possible.

Spinal Decompression | Oklahoma City and Surrounding Areas

There are multiple structures that can create low back pain. One of the most important is the spinal disc – the cushion between the individual vertebra. At Venturis Clinic, we use a technology called Spinal Decompression. This allows us to restore bulged discs – which can create not only low back pain, but pain that radiates down the leg – to their proper place.
Spinal Decompression works by using traction the low back. This allows the disc spaces to open up creating negative pressure inside of the middle of the disc, which starts to pull the bulge away from the nerve. This is critical to relieving pain.
This is a great short term way to help with a bulging disc. Long term, we make sure that we combine this with chiropractic adjustments and therapeutic exercises to help strengthen the core so that the problem doesn’t persist.

Prolotherapy/Prolozone

Prolotherapy is a form of low risk, non-steroidal treatment for degenerative bones, a joint and ligaments. It is an injection of hypertonic dextrose solution at the affected area(s), such as for your cervical spine. The body has a natural self-healing capability. For example, if someone is bleeding from a cut, the blood can be naturally stopped as the body has a clotting factor (Your plasma stops the bleeding) . Secondly, a red wound signifies inflammation and more blood cells around the wound. Thirdly, tissues can repair themselves autonomously until the wound can properly heal.
Prolotherapy induces mild inflammation to initially activate the self-healing process. After triggering inflammation, the process of tissues repair will gradually start until the wound becomes healed or when the joint comes back to normal. The mechanism of action is different from an anti-inflammatory injection or when taking a pain relieve medication which only treats the symptoms. They do not actually address the root cause of the problem

Dry Needling

When you have lower back pain, the muscles in your lower back are often painful to the touch. The irritable, hard “knots” within a muscle or connective tissue that may cause pain over a large area are called trigger points. Dry needling is a treatment that involves pushing a very thin needle through the skin to stimulate a trigger point. The needle may relax the tight muscle bands associated with trigger points. As a result, dry needling may be helpful in decreasing pain and increasing motion for patients with lower back pain.
Trigger points can be a source of pain and may limit neck motion. Dry needling is a specialized treatment for trigger points that some physical therapists provide. In the short term, the findings of this study suggest that a single treatment of dry needling can decrease pain and improve motion. Dry needling is typically combined with other treatments, including exercises to further lessen pain and improve motion and the ability to perform daily activities. Dr. Alvin Philipose can give you a thorough evaluation to help determine if you are a good candidate for this treatment as part of a program designed to reduce your pain and improve your function. For more information on the treatment of lower back pain, contact Venturis Clinic who specializing in musculoskeletal disorders.
Call to Schedule a Complimentary Consultation
405.848.7246
Ask about Digital Motion X-Ray Imaging
Offering variety of pain management solutions 

Common Causes of Low Back Pain In Oklahoma City and Surrounding Areas

Bulged Lumbar Discs

The spinal disc is the shock absorber or the cushion in between individual vertebrae. I describe discs like a jelly doughnut. The fibers that are around the outside of the disc are like the doughnut and the nucleus, which is a gelatinous material, is like the jelly of the doughnut.
Over time, the discs can wear down and dehydrate. When that happens those fibers begin to tear, especially if you have an injury, pick something up incorrectly, or get into an accident. If those fibers tear enough the gelatinous nucleus takes the path of least resistance and moves toward the outside of the disc, creating a bulge. That bulge puts pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine and that creates pain in your low back that can also radiate down your leg.

Herniated Lumbar Discs

Like with bulged discs, the outside fibers can begin to tear and the nucleus can start to move towards the outside of the disc. If the fibers tear enough, the nucleus can actually break through the exterior of the disc and sit on a nerve ending. Herniated discs tend to create more leg pain, then low back pain, and they also create more intense pain. When the disc ruptures, that takes the pressure off the low back area, but it creates a lot of pain down into the leg because the nucleus is out of the disc and sitting on the nerve.
A natural way for the herniated disc to resolve itself is a process called fago se cytosis – your body sees the nucleus as a foreign object so it will inflame to try to help eat up that nucleus and reabsorb it. If that doesn’t work, it can create pain that is usually enough to cause people to start to look into surgery. We try to treat herniated discs naturally, but after a certain course of treatment surgery may be the only option.

Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative Disc Disease is an age related condition where the discs begin to break down. (Obesity, smoking, and work that is hard on the spine can also contribute to Degenerative Disc Disease.) Similar to a bulging or herniated disc, as discs become dehydrated and break down they start to lose their natural height. A fully hydrated disc has height to create proper openings for the nerves to emerge from the spine and travel throughout the body. When the disc starts to shrink, the foramen – the holes that the nerves come out of – start to get smaller irritating the nerves. This is what creates that low back pain and potentially radiating pain. Unfortunately, with Degenerative Disc Disease, whatever damage has been done can’t be reversed, but it can be slowed. This is why it’s so important to get treatment as soon as possible whenever you’re dealing with low back pain.

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal Stenosis can create a lot of significant symptoms, mainly because pressure can be put on the spinal cord as well as the adjacent nerves. Usually with Spinal Stenosis people will find that standing or walking can aggravate their pain and that resting, sitting down, or even bending forward can help relieve some of that pressure. Not only can it cause pain, but it can also cause weakness, numbness, or organ dysfunction – like your bladder or your gown. Those are emergency situations and you need to contact a medical doctor immediately.

Muscle Strain

Muscle strains are the most common causes of low back pain. They tend to be dull and achy, and the pain is intensified with movement or putting yourself into certain positions. Normally the pain stays localized in the lower back versus radiating into your legs or other areas. Muscle strains can be caused by sudden activity, over time with repetitive motion, poor posture, or weak core muscles.
Muscle strains usually resolve in four to six weeks, but we want to address them early if possible because, a lot of times, they are a symptom of a more root problem. This is why, at Venturis Clinic, Dr. Alvin Philipose always will try to attack the root cause of the problem versus just addressing the symptoms.

Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction (SI Joint Pain)

The sacroiliac joint is where the sacrum – the triangle bone at the base of your spine – meets the pelvis. This joint isn’t built to move a lot and problems can be created by hypermobility, moving too much, or hypomobility, moving too little. 15-30% of all low back pain cases are caused by SI joint dysfunction. The SI joint works to absorb the shock between the upper body and the pelvis and legs. Causes of SI joint dysfunction are leg length discrepancies, pregnancy, giving birth, or repeatedly stressing the joints.

Facet Joint Dysfunction

Facet joints are the joints at the back of the spine where the vertebra meet. There’s cartilage inside of those joints that, over time, can start to break down and become inflamed. People that have facet joint dysfunction normally feel pain when they go into extension, meaning they lean back, or if they’re standing for long periods of time because that loads those joints.

Subluxation

Subluxation is the dysfunction that chiropractors are looking for and that they treat. Subluxation is dysfunction in the spine, or misalignment of the spine, which creates pressure on the nerves. The nerves are then what create the symptoms and the low back pain.
Specific chiropractic adjustments are the only solution to a subluxation. You can do all of the stretches and exercises that you want, but if a vertebra is stuck out of alignment or is not moving properly, until you get that motion back or correct the alignment, you’ll continue to have issues.
Call to Schedule a Complimentary Consultation
405.848.7246
Ask about Digital Motion X-Ray Imaging
Offering variety of pain management solutions 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is prolotherapy good for?

Many conditions respond well to prolotherapy, such as facet syndrome (back and neck arthritis), whiplash, joint sprains, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, tennis elbow, sprains, chronic tendonitis, Ehler’s-Danlos Disease, Bulging disc, knee pain, shoulder pain Vagus nerve inflammation and more.

What are the risks of prolotherapy?

Theoretical risks of prolotherapy injections include soreness, infection or neurological (nerve) damage. Injections should be performed by trained physicians using universal precautions diagnostics examinations and tproper examinations. This results in very minimal side effects.

What is the average cost of prolotherapy?

Costs vary quite a bit from $150-$1500 dependent on type and contents of injections.

Is prolotherapy a permanent fix?

Prolotherapy is an all-natural, permanent treatment, as it relies on the body repairing itself to reduce pain. In contrast, pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications only provide temporary relief. Booster shots as well has wellness therapies including stretching, massage, chiropractic, dry-needling and strengthening will help maintain progress.

Who is a good candidate for prolotherapy?

More specifically, prolotherapy may be right for you if you experience any of the following: Damaged or lost tissue, especially surrounding the joints. If patients have tried various traditional treatments including prescription drugs, physical therapy, or steroids but seen minimal to no results, prolotherapy may be right for you.

Why does prolotherapy hurt so much?

A patient is generally sore for a couple of days after Prolotherapy. This is because the injections have to go through some muscles to get to the ligaments and tendons. To help the muscle soreness resolve itself sooner, dry needling and moist heat applied to the area is recommended.

Is prolotherapy better than cortisone?

Cortisone can cause tendon rupture, particularly of the achilles tendon. Prolotherapy is a proven orthopedic treatment to reduce pain and strengthen weakened joints without the negative side effects of cortisone.

What are the pros and cons of prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy is great for strengthening weak joints and creating heightened muscle functionality, such as increased movement and flexibility. However, there are some risks involved, for example it is a shot like any other so there could be pain or tenderness to the injection site.

What should you not do after prolotherapy?

Due to the numbness we ask that you refrain from any strenuous activities but to stay mobile. Continue to move affected area to decrease soreness and stiffness. You should avoid strenuous physical activity for 2 days following injections. You will experience some pain and soreness 2-5 days after your treatment. Do not take any anti-inflammatories, pain medications or steroids during treatments. This may inhibit your body’s ability to heal the affected tissue.

How long does prolotherapy take to heal?

Most ligaments and tendons heal within a period of 3 months; however, the majority of healing after a prolotherapy session occurs in the first two weeks.

How many prolotherapy sessions will I need?

Prolotherapy treatments vary from person to person and from injury to injury. Many patients have experienced some relief of their pain with only one session. The average person requires anywhere from 3-12 treatment sessions spaced about 3-6 weeks apart from each other.

How long does a prolotherapy injection last?

On average, patients experience one year of improvement and relief from prolotherapy. However, there is a huge variation and sometimes improvement lasts from three months to 15 years.

What is injected during prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy involves injections of a mild irritant into the injured part of your body. Most of the time the injection contains saline, dextrose (a type of sugar), and lidocaine, which is a numbing agent. Dr. Philipose custom tailors the injection, so the exact composition depends on your needs. These injections may include natural collagen, minerals, amino acids and other natural substances to accelerate healing compared to traditional prolotherapy.

Is prolotherapy better than surgery?

Prolotherapy is considered a viable alternative to surgery, and as an option to pain medications, cortisone and other steroidal injections. The Prolotherapy procedure is considered a safe, affordable option that allows the patient to keep working and/or training during treatment.

Can prolotherapy reverse arthritis?

One study with 90 adults with knee osteoarthritis involved some participants getting monthly prolotherapy injections of dextrose for 3 to 5 months. Those who received prolotherapy saw a significant improvement in pain, function, and stiffness scores.

Does prolotherapy regrow cartilage?

Prolotherapy is an injection of a non-biologic substance with localized effects for repairing connective tissue injuries of the musculoskeletal system. Recent studies in humans show that prolotherapy stimulates cartilage regeneration.

Are you sedated for prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy is a safe, cost effective injection technique used for treating musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain in various parts of the body. It is noninvasive, has limited side effects and does not require sedation.

What does dry needling actually do?

Dry needling treats muscle tissue, and its goal is to reduce pain, inactivate trigger points and restore function. It rarely is a standalone procedure. Rather, it often is part of a broader physical therapy approach incorporating other traditional physical therapy interventions into treatment.

What is dry needling and does it hurt?

We use very thin filament needles. The initial feeling of the needle entering through the skin is very minimal; much less than a vaccination or having blood drawn. Once the needle reaches the muscle, the twitch sensation feels more like a deep cramp and doesn't last long (15-30 seconds).

How long does dry needling results last?

After dry needling, experiencing some slight soreness is normal, and you will typically note an improvement in your symptoms within one to two days. How long the benefits will last will vary per individual. The first few treatments will usually have a short length of relief spanning over several days.

How many sessions of dry needling do you need?

If treatment zones are found and the correct muscle groups are targeted, sub-acute conditions will improve after three – four consecutive sessions, with chronic injuries requiring five – six consecutive needling sessions.

Does dry needling remove knots?

Dry needle therapy resolves muscle knots by inserting a very thin needle directly into the trigger point. The knot responds to the interruption and relaxes immediately. Most patients agree that dry needling doesn't hurt in the way that you might think!

How deep do dry needles go?

Superficial dry needling involves inserting a needle at a depth up to 10 mm or into the subcutaneous tissue and may be combined with manipulation of the needle while in situ.

Does dry needling reduce inflammation?

The micro tears caused by the needle prompts the body's natural defenses to get to work, bringing nutrient-rich blood to the site and boosting tissue repair. Dry needling also helps to dissipate inflammatory mediators, those substances that gather in an area of inflammation.

Is dry needling good for arthritis?

Dry needling is an effective treatment in reducing pain from osteoarthritis because it increases blood circulation around the joint, thereby providing natural relief.

What exactly does a chiropractor do?

A chiropractor is trained to make sure your body is functioning as optimally as possible by using spinal manipulations and other therapies to relieve pain in your joints and muscles. These spinal adjustments will increase blood flow and nerve conductivity to the joints and muscles that are experiencing pain. They are taught philosophically to find and treat the cause rather than just the symptoms.

Is it healthy to go to the chiropractor?

Spinal manipulation and chiropractic care are generally considered safe, effective treatments for acute low back pain, the type of sudden injury that results from acute or chronic conditions such as strains, arthritis or disc injuries.

What are the benefits of chiropractic care?

• Improves neck pain.
• Reduces reliance on opioid pain relievers. 
• Eases back pain.
• Possible reduction of osteoarthritis symptoms. 
• Eases headache symptoms. 
• More affordable treatment for chronic back pain. 
• High satisfaction. 
• Reduces scoliosis symptoms.

What are the cons of seeing a chiropractor?

Spinal and joint manipulation has a chance to go wrong and may cause unwanted injuries. So it is important that you only have an appointment with an experienced chiropractor that performs the necessary examinations and diagnostics to ensure safe treatments. DO NOT ALLOW a physical therapist or any other untrained person try a manipulation especially without X-rays.

When should you go to a chiropractor?

Chiropractors are most sought after to treat neck and low back pain due to acute or chronic pain. If you experience back pain that lasts for more than a few days, consult a chiropractor for an assessment.

What cracks when you see a chiropractor?

During a back adjustment, your back undergoes quick, gentle stretching of the spinal facet joint, so you may hear a cracking or popping noise. This is caused by small pockets of air or bubbles, which are in the fluid that surrounds your joints.

Why do chiropractors want you to keep coming back?

Changing your posture, changing your spine's ability to move, changing your muscle health and structure take time. Months in fact. All muscles have memory and your body wants to go back to its old patterns instead of creating new healthy ones. That is why adjustments need to be repeated again and again

Is chiropractic care is ineffective?

Critics are skeptical mainly due to the fact that chiropractic care does not involve medications or any invasive surgeries. Some have associated this practice with some side effects and fatal complications in some cases resulting in death or stroke. It also goes against the medical philosophy of not prescribing medications. In recent years there has been a comparison that shows not only Chiropractic to be safe, but healthier and more successful than taking steroids and medications. There are also various techniques now that prevent any type of injuries due the gentleness of the adjustment.

Why do some chiropractors crack and others don't?

The noises you hear during chiropractic treatment depend on the technique used. For example, some techniques cause a cracking sound, and others don't, but both can be highly effective, depending on your needs. So, whether you hear an abundance of pops or none at all, you don't need to worry.
If you have tried multiple types of doctors and treatments but still hurting, you may not have found the cause. We can help!
Find Us
7917 N May Ave, Oklahoma City, 
OK 73120, USA
(405) 848-7246
envelopephone-handsetmap-markerchevron-right linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram