Prolotherapy: A Thumb Arthritis Treatment
An arthritic thumb can be treated and treated effectively! Many times at Prolotherapy of Denver we see people having great results in just 3 treatments. If you have been diagnosed with arthritis in the thumb and are looking for treatment options, you need to consider this. Arthritis is a painful condition when two joint bones rub together and wear down the cartilage. As a degenerative condition, people are often told that there is nothing they can do to fix it, only to slow it down. Or that they need surgery. That is not true. Prolotherapy helps to heal the joint and is an effective osteoarthritis treatment.
What Is Basal Joint Arthritis?
The most common place for people to get arthritis in their hand is at the base of their thumb joint. The is commonly referred to as Thumb Arthritis, but more specifically referred to as carpometacarpal (CMC) joint arthritis. That designates the area where your thumb meets your wrists as the area with osteoarthritis. Sometimes people say basal joint arthritis because it is located at the base of your thumb, but they all mean the same thing. We are seeing this condition come up more and more because of the amount of time people spend typing, and “texting thumb”. Historically are thumbs were used to grasp things, but typing and text are a relatively new skill for us and it moves the thumb in a way we’re not used to.
*If you are working with a lawyer and being treated on a lien basis, billing insurance, or worker’s comp, treatments will be billed at the regular price. If you are able to pay for the treatment at the time of service, you are eligible for the TOS Discount which offers significant savings. This is due to the fact that legal cases can take years to resolve, and insurance and worker’s comp automatically reduce payments to a fraction of what is billed.
Affordable Thumb Arthritis Treatment
If you have been looking for Prolotherapy treatments, you probably noticed our price is significantly lower than other offices. I get many people asking, “Why are our prices so cheap?”. First, know that the price on our website is the total price you pay. We do not charge per injection, and we do not add an office visit or other fees. Many times when treating osteoarthritis of the thumb, we will do multiple injections around the joint. That is all considered 1 treatment. If we are doing both hands, please contact us first as we will need to add time to the appointment and there will be an additional charge for the second area. Dr. Scott Richardson DAOM not only performs prolotherapy injections, he is also a nationally credentialed continuing education provider. He teaches other health care providers how to do prolotherapy. He has the experience and the knowledge to get great results. We do our best to keep the cost of prolotherapy low so more people can have access to it. Especially since insurance companies will not cover it. We can use HSA and Flex Spending accounts, and provide a detailed receipt (superbill) for reimbursement. We have a small clinic in West Wash Park Denver. We try to keep our overhead low so we can keep our treatment costs low.
How Many Treatments do I Need?
Every case is unique and we always customize our treatments to each individual. We have some basic guidelines that we use to help people know how many treatments they need, and what to expect. It is unusual that someone with basal joint arthritis only needs 1 treatment. For most cases that are mild to moderate, 3 treatments are recommended. This can help heal the area, and give years of relief. We will want to reduce the activity that is hurting the thumb to have a more successful CMC arthritis Treatment. If it is more sever, like bone on bone arthritis, then we recommend a series of 5 injections, and we may need a 6th. The injections happen 3- 4 weeks apart and 10 days to 2 weeks after our last injection we want to start incorporating more movement again and should be seeing noticeable improvements.
We’re Athletes Too!
Are you tired of your doctor telling you that “Running is bad for your knees”, or “If you do Crossfit, you’ll injure yourself and get Rabdo!”? Here at Prolotherapy of Denver, we know what works because we’re athletes too. Whether you are training for your first 5K or have completed multiple Ironmans, whether you’re a weekend warrior or nationally ranked, we are here to help you meet those goals and smash your PRs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dr. Scott Richardson DAOM
Dr. Scott Richardson DAOM completed his Masters and Doctorate degrees from Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego. He has 6 years of graduate and post graduate training centered around acupuncture and needling treatments. He completed a study abroad program at ChengDu university in China, and spent time learning at a local clinic in Taipei, Taiwan. His clinic is centered around providing treatments that help to facilitate the body’s ability to heal itself. He is a NCCAOM credentialed continuing education provider. In addition to providing these services, he also teaches these techniques to other healthcare professionals so they can be more widely available. He has lived in Colorado since 2012 were he has served as Vice President, President and Legislative Chair of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado (AAC). He was instrumental in getting Acupoint Injection Therapy (AIT) written in to the scope of practice for Colorado acupuncturists. He has finished numerous triathlons, Tough Mudders, Spartan Races, and 4 Ironman 140.6 events. He is the owner of Denver Acupuncture & Sports Medicine and Prolotherapy of Denver were he continues to see patients with a wide variety of concerns.
We’re Here to Help
Prolotherapy of Denver is a judgment-free zone. We’ve all had those “what was I thinking” moments. We’re not here to make fun of you; we just want to help you get back out there, doing the things you love. Give us a call today and let us know how we can help you!