Dear Colleague:

This letter is written soon after returning from the American Association of Orthopaedic Medicine's
annual meeting in Washington, DC. The meeting was largely devoted to prolotherapy, a method of
strengthening ligaments and joint capsules by injecting irritant solutions, such as dextrose, into
weakened connective tissue.

As it happens, one of the first patients I saw in my office this week was a 49-year-old woman with
iliolumbar syndrome, a back pain centering in the iliolumbar ligament and radiating into the hip
region. She had had this for many years and manipulation of the
pelvic ring and lumbar spine had provided only temporary relief. The pelvic ring seemed unstable
and I accordingly began prolotherapy about three months ago -- injecting the iliolumbar, posterior
sacroiliac and interosseous ligaments bilaterally with a 12-1/2% dextrose solution.

My practice is to repeat the injections every two weeks. After two sessions, the woman was
experiencing considerable pain relief; and after the third session, I felt she was "home free" and
would probably need no further prolotherapy. Accordingly, the next appointment was scheduled for
six weeks later with the expectation that it would be a simple follow-up visit.

However, I was disappointed to hear that soon after her last visit, the pain had returned as
strongly as ever. In fact, it seemed to be worse at night; her sleep was being badly disturbed. In
my 28 years' experience, patients' response to prolotherapy has usually been a steady, gradual
improvement. A sudden relapse without triggering trauma raised a red flag and made me think
something else was going on -- perhaps an interference field.

Could an interference field be causing the pain?

The most common non-mechanical location of an interference field in the low back is the third
lumbar sympathetic ganglion, but autonomic response testing revealed nothing. Abdominal and
pelvic viscera were unlikely candidates, as the patient had good gastrointestinal and genitourinary
function and was otherwise healthy. She had no surgical scars and no history of recent dental
work. However, the patient complained that a dental bridge in her ipsilateral upper molars was
chronically uncomfortable and that the irritation had recently worsened.

Autonomic response testing indicated an interference field at the site of a previously extracted
upper wisdom tooth. Whether the remaining second molar, anchoring the problematic bridge, was
irritating the wisdom tooth space was uncertain. However, injection of the wisdom tooth space
with procaine 1/2% followed by an intravenous bolus gave immediate relief.

This patient's long-term prognosis is still uncertain. She may have had an interference field in the
wisdom tooth space since extraction in her 20s, in which case repeat procaine injections into the
tooth space may be all that is required to cure her iliolumbar syndrome. Another possibility is that
the space is irritated by a badly fitting bridge. If so, dental work on the bridge may be necessary.
A third option might be chronic infection or even a cavitation in the wisdom tooth space. Injection
of homeopathics or dental surgery would be required in that case.

The point of this case history is not just that dental interference fields can cause trouble almost
anywhere in the body. A more subtle lesson is that interference fields can be an underlying or
"background" factor complicating a legitimate diagnosis made on mechanical or other grounds.
This patient definitely had an iliolumbar ligament syndrome and also had underlying low-back
instability. However, treating the abnormal mechanics was not enough in her case. Resetting the
neurological (or energetic) controls is often needed when response to the usual treatments is
unusual.

Sincerely,

Robert F. Kidd, MD, CM

Want more details on dental aspects of Neural Therapy?

You'll find more information on dental aspects of neural therapy in chapter 7 of my book,Neural
Therapy: Applied Neurophysiology and Other Topics, available at
www.neuraltherapybook.com .

Plan to attend the September NT course in Chicago

Register now to attend my "Introduction to Neural Therapy" workshop, Sept. 15-16, at
the Hilton Garden Inn in Chicago. See www.neuraltherapybook.com for details.

Your feedback is welcome

I invite your comments and questions -- as well as brief case histories. Please e-mail me at
drkidd@neuraltherapybook. com.