April 18, 2025
The patient
A female patient in her 40s.
The patient’s medical history to date
The patient started to have pain in her left lower limb when she was a college student. Her symptoms improved after she started going to a chiropractor.
In 2012, she became unable to move after exercising and visited her local orthopedic doctor, who diagnosed her as having disc herniation (disc L5/s).
Surgery was suggested to her and the disc was removed endoscopically. Her symptoms improved after that.
In 2024, she suddenly developed pain in his left lower limb and became unable to move. She visited a local orthopedic surgeon and was treated with medication, but there was no improvement.
She is currently living abroad and since it will take some time before she can receive treatment there, she decided to return to Japan and visit our clinic.
Symptoms before treatment
・Pain levels before treatment
| Lower back | Lower limbs | Numbness | Buttocks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain level | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
No pain at all is rated as 0, and the maximum possible pain is rated as 10.
Main areas of pain and numbness: lower back, left lower limb.
Bending forward: pain in back of the left thigh
Bending backward: no change
Lasegue test: positive at 60 degrees on the left side
Point of tenderness: none
Intermittent claudication: negative
Additional explanations on our clinic’s medical examination
・Daily activities
Symptoms aggravated when sitting and when bending forward.
Imaging and findings
- L5/s- disc herniation
- L4/5,5/s- disc degeneration
The above findings were also observed on the imaging.
・L5/s – disc herniation was observed on the left side, and it is extremely probable that this is the main cause of the symptoms.
Treatment
After consulting with the patient, the PODD Method was performed on L5/s.
The treatment was performed by our administrative director, Dr. Minowa.
This is an image after injection of the ozone. The area in black is the ozone.
The treatment took about 10 minutes.
The patient had pain during the treatment, but after some rest in the recovery room, she was able to leave the clinic by walking by herself.
The treatment method at our clinic
Some additional information about the PODD Method.
Cost of the PODD Method: 330,000 yen / 1 site (including tax) to 550,000 yen / 5 sites (including tax)
Epidural ozone cost: 33,000 yen / 1 site (including tax) to 165,000 yen / 5 sites (including tax)
* Cost for this particular patient: PODD on 1 site: 330,000 yen (including tax)
PODD risks and side effects: There is a possibility of transient pain occurring after treatment. There is a possibility of nerve damage due to the nature of the treatment, but there have been no reports of damage in either our own treatment cases or in published papers. There is a very small possibility of an allergic reaction to the local anesthetic. In addition, there is a possibility that treatment may not be possible if the intervertebral disc has lost its volume almost completely. When you visit our clinic, please consult with the doctor in order to choose a treatment method that is appropriate for your condition.
For more detailed information, please refer to the page in the link below.
PODD method page of our treatment method
This article was written by the Administrative Director of our clinic
