Liza Maniquis-Smigel, MD

I will again  assist as clinical instructor for  Dr Lyftogt's Neural Prolotherapy Workshop  in Los Angeles Califorina, May, 6-8, 2011. Attending Dr John Lyftogt's Neural Prolotherapy workshops, in New Zealand last year and in Italy this year, has been one of the most rewarding and exciting experience, in my quest to find the cure for Chronic Pain.  As a physiatrist and prolotherapist, I have been successful in treating musculoskeletal pain, but neuropathic pain has been  frustrating as very few treatment options are available - with no cure.     I went to New Zealand last year for his first ever  International  Neural Prolotherapy workshop that he and his wife Maria organized themselves. There were only 12 medical doctors that attended.  We were  all blown away by his  work  and impressed  by the immediate relief of pain we witnessed when he treated  his  own patients.   Impressed but still skeptical,  I returned home and tried it on my own patients and have  been amazed with the results, leading to pain relief in almost all musculoskeletal and neuropathic cases.  I was excited to tell many of my colleagues about Dr Lygtoft's technique.     I was invited to  attend his second workshop held in Italy, to assist  as one of his clinical instructors, attended by 27  doctors from around the world.  There, I was able to  understand more deeply  the pathophysiology of neurogenic inflammation and of the anatomy of  peptidergic sensory C-fibers and how it applies to the basic  principles of how neural prolotherapy with near nerve injections of dextrose can relieve pain instantly.      I feel honored and blessed to be one of the pioneers in spreading the word about neural prolotherapy.  The whole paradigm of pain  has changed for me and I have discovered, thanks to Dr Lyftogt, a minimally invasive treatment, that if done correctly,  can  relieve pain  without the  expensive and ill effects of many medications used for  pain. I am also  currently involved in exciting research, studying the potential analgesic  effects of dextrose on nerve roots,  via epidural approach.