Rebound From Shoulder Pain

Dick Randolph of Fairbanks, Alaska, is 66-year-old avid outdoorsman who hikes miles into the wilderness to fish and hunt. He tears around on a snowmobile, chops wood at his remote cabin, and soars through the skies on a paraglider. The only thing that ever slowed Dick down was shoulder pain. Small wonder: he'd been diagnosed with large, complete rotator cuff tears and joint degeneration in both shoulders.

The constant soreness and restricted range of motion, which were exacerbated by paragliding, made him seriously consider the surgery his orthopedist had recommended—until he heard about prolotherapy, a remarkable treatment offered at the Whitaker Wellness Institute for chronic musculoskeletal pain. After Dick’s first session, he could move his shoulder more freely than he had in years. Two months later he returned to the clinic for his second treatment. From here it was on to Idaho for paragliding, which he now does with little or no pain.

­— from Health & Healing by Julian Whitaker, MD