NEW ORLEANS — More than 50 million people in the U.S. know the feeling of chronic pain. And in nearly 20 million, it causes significant limitations in work, social life, and personal care.
In athletes, pain from injury sidelines them. But now, a local doctor from Tulane has a new, quick treatment that is helping one of the causes of pain.
For pro and college athletes, having your body in elite performance shape is game changing.
Something as common as a hamstring pull can be season-ending.
That's what happened to Brother Martin Graduate and now Cornell senior football defensive end Noah Labbé.
“I was running full speed, and I felt a pop in my hamstring, and kind of went down. And then I went to the ground and I got back up, but immediately I knew something was wrong,” Noah Labbé remembers.
“The normal timetable for hamstring injuries is typically six to eight weeks, but sometimes these injuries can linger for months, and sometimes years, and sometimes they're career-ending, unfortunately,” said Dr. Jacques Courseault, Founder and Medical Director of The Fascia Institute and Treatment Center. He is a Tulane Sports Medicine Physician and Orthopedic Specialist.
Noah came to New Orleans from Cornell to see Tulane sports medicine physician Dr. Jacques Courseault. Through his years of research and treating injuries in athletes and pain in non-athletes of all ages, he has developed a cutting-edge,10-minute office procedure that has a very high success rate on hamstring injuries.
“In our experience, most patients get back to play within three or four days, certainly within a week. In most cases for hamstrings, we're highly successful with it being a one-time treatment,” Dr. Courseault explained.
He discovered that throughout the body, pain does not come from an injury inside the muscle but rather from the fascia. That's the thin casing of connective tissue holding every organ in place. It's sensitive and full of nerves, and damage over the years forms scar tissue that tightens and sticks to the muscle. He was the first to publish his scientific findings.
“We actually had like an aha moment, and it turns out there were patterns in hamstring injuries, but also injuries from neck pain, to back pain, to quad pain, calf pain, etc., in which the fibrotic or fascial planes were tight, adhesed, or inflamed,” he said.
Using an ultrasound on Noah, Dr. Courseault could see the inflammation in red. That image then guided him where to inject each patient's custom mixture of medication. It's called hydrodissection. You can usually see the stuck fascia separate right before your eyes.
Noah was running and practicing the very next week.
“As soon as our athletes, and non-athletes alike get off the table, they feel better, in most cases immediately,” Dr. Courseault said he has observed.
The anti-inflammatory medications and local anesthetics in the injection can also help prevent the fascia from re-sticking.
“We have athletes that fly in professionally, and collegiate, and high school athletes, that come in for these one-day treatments, and fly back home, because it's such a highly-specialized procedure,” he added.
One of those athletes is former LSU pitcher Eric Reyzelman, who now plays in the major leagues.
When asked if he had ever heard of hydrodissection, he replied, “No. No. I had not. I mean it was a completely new thing to me. It helped me out a ton. I ended up going back to him multiple times just for maintenance, and he helped me get through,” said MLB pitcher Eric Reyzelman.
Instantly, you can see the inflammation in red on the shoulder muscle of his pitching arm is gone.
When asked how much more quickly he got back into the game, he answered, “Aw man, it was unbelievable. I mean, I was back in three days, you know. I had the injections on Monday after a weekend series, and I would pitch on Friday,” he said.
But Dr. Courseault's discoveries have gone further. Former LSU forward and current WNBA player Theresa Plaisance took time away from training to give the Sacred Heart basketball team some pointers. They marveled over her diamond-studded championship ring with the Las Vegas Aces. She says she had a back injury that wasn't healing fast. So, she also got injections.
“You just saw the red fizzle to orange, yellow, and just fade out, and it was absolutely incredible. I'm 31 years old. I feel better than I did when I was playing at 26,” Plaisance recalls.
But Dr. Courseault also diagnosed her with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which makes her joints more hypermobile.
“Now with my new knowledge of why I'm not healing as quickly as other people, and what more I need to do, and what I need to take away, and even my diet, I also have to start training differently. I'm not allowed to back load anymore. I'm not allowed to put anything on my shoulders to where I'm compressing my spine,” she explained of her workout routine.
Dr. Courseault says many athletes, like Eric, and regular patients with pain have hypermobility. He also discovered that some people have a genetic condition where folate and vitamin B-12 are not used correctly in the body. So, you can't heal and repair efficiently.
“Most athletes have a vitamin deficiency that can lead to potentially increased scar tissue or fibrosis in muscles over time,” said Dr. Courseault.
So, he puts those patients on a special over-the-counter vitamin to correct the problem. He believes this will lower the injuries and tight, painful fascia in the future.
At the Fascia Institute and Treatment Center at Tulane, he is also using the hydrodissection injections to help patients with knee replacements, shoulder injuries, and even those with head symptoms after a concussion. He's found some of the brain fog is from the tight fascia impinging nerves in the neck and head.
For now, this simple procedure allows Noah, Eric, and Theresa to stay in the pro game. For the average patient with pain, it means an easier time in everyday life.
In some cases, health insurance pays for the injection, but not all are on board yet. So, check with your coverage.
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