Healing Sports Injuries Without Surgery

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Outside Magazine August 2004

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BODYWORK: Noninvasive Surgery
Sack the Surgeon
The most common ailments Andy Pruitt sees at the Boulder Center are knee pain, lower-back soreness, strained foot ligaments, and arthritic knees and hips. These incision-free treatments can help.


	(Christoph Niemann)

BIOMECHANICS AND JOINT LUBES
At Pruitt's Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, specialists will take your shoes, bikes, skis, clubs, and boards and fit them correctly to the quirks of your body. A consultation and 3-D analysis of your running or biking form costs about $400. For joint pain, you can sign on for viscosupplementation (lubing your sockets with hyaluronan) or cortisone injections. Three to five treatments run $1,500 per joint. (303-544-5700, www.bch.org/sportsmedicine)



	(Christoph Niemann)

POSTURE PERFECT
When NFL players John Lynch and Junior Seau needed relief for their aching joints, they turned to the Egoscue Method, founded by San Diego–based sports therapist Pete Egoscue. His strength and flexibility program restores spinal—and therefore biomechanical—alignment. After a consultation with an exercise physiologist, clients begin a two-week prescription of daily 30-minute workouts. Patients then return every two weeks for a checkup and a revised workout program. The cost for eight office visits is $1,495. (800-995-8434, www.egoscue.com)



	(Christoph Niemann)

THE BACK RACK
Using a high-tech version of the medieval torture rack, the Lordex Lumbar Spine System gently pulls your spine apart and eases the pressure on your mashed and bulging discs. Following each 30-minute traction session, patients work through a doctor-prescribed stretching-and-resistance routine, using a modified stomach-crunch/back-extension machine to strengthen and stabilize the afflicted area. The 25 weekly one-hour visits can cost up to $5,000. (281-398-1700; www.lordex.com)

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