I really enjoy being a healer.  What I see is the need, the tremendous need to find new solutions.  To put this in simple terms…Marie, a 101 year-old woman came to me with constant left shoulder pain.  I told her in good faith that a person of her age should expect and accept that her pain is a by-product of her age.  In the clearest of voices, Marie replied that  her right shoulder was also 101 years old and was without pain.  Marie made me realize that we need new solutions.  It is not acceptable that many people, like Marie,  should live in constant pain day by day unless they take numerous pain killers for weeks, months and years on end.

We cannot take for granted that we cannot bring about pain relief without asking patients to take oral pain killers almost daily for extended periods of time, if not for the rest  of their lives.  On the other hand, we should take for granted that we can, indeed,  seek and develop new solutions.  The first step is to eliminate the word, “cannot” from our vocabulary.  

Thus, I began to explore new techniques.  As an example, I investigated mesotherapy---a new therapeutic modality recognized and accepted in France as part of standard allopathic medicine.  Mesotherapy relies on traditional or conventional western medical diagnostic tools and principles.  It is most useful in the control of pain for musculoskeletal problems (e.g. tendonitis, arthritis, sprains, muscle strain, spinal disorders).  It involves the delivery of small amounts of FDA approved medications (non-cortisone) via local injections  instead of ingesting or injecting intramuscularly or intravenously much larger dosages of medications, which are filtered in the liver and kidney and travel throughout one’s body . 

It is surprising to me that mesotherapy is virtually unknown in the U.S.---except in relation to cosmetic applications.   

Before I went to Paris, I had a long discussion with Dr. Watson Tung, my Chinese acupuncturist/herbalist partner in Corona Del Mar.  He informed me that mesotherapy has been used in China since the invention of the syringe.     During my first day of training in Paris, I was overwhelmed by the statistical data provided to me by Doctor Le Coz, early pioneer and former president of the French Society of Mesotherapy.  He is an ethical man.  He is also one of the best clinicians and diagnosticians I have had the privilege to meet in fifteen years of practice.  There are more than 15, 000 mesotherapy physicians in France where 60, 000 patients a day  receive such treatments. 

Are there merits to the introduction of mesotherapy to the U.S.?  

Certainly, in our attempts to relieve pain, the administration of smaller dosages of medications reduces the risks of side effects (e.g. injury to the liver, kidneys;  excessive sedation with ensuing risk of falling and fracturing a bone; potential addiction to narcotic pain killers).  This method of pain control also appears to be more cost-effective.  Depending on the condition, sessions may be a week apart for 2 – 4 weeks then bi-weekly for a month along with adjunctive physical therapy.  Some people may need maintenance therapy several times a year.  Many experience pain relief immediately or in two or three days.  The injections are virtually painless compared to trigger point injections or Prolo therapy, for example. 

Mesotherapy has other benefits, which have been much talked about recently on Good Morning America and 48 Hours television networks (e.g. cellulite and weight reduction for Roberta Flack).  It has been touted as an alternative to liposuction.  Mesotherapy is not the “be-all, end-all” solution to weight loss.  It must be combined with diet, proper nutrition and exercise.  Personally, I am more impressed by the benefits Mesotherapy offers in relieving musculoskeletal pain.  

The prestigious medical institutions of Harvard, UCLA, John Hopkins’ universities, UCI to name a few have begun to explore new avenues of treatments such as acupuncture and herbal medicine, blending them with allopathic medicine.  The era of standing still is over.  This is the way of the future.  I cannot explain to you the gratification which my staff and I have experienced when we have been able to help our patients. 

For more information, please call Dr. Evelyne Llorente at (714) 885 – 8980.