Without Pain Pills or Surgery

Ken Mueller, a Patient
Nov – Dec 2023 • Vol 4, No 7

My name is Ken Mueller. I presently reside in Missoula, where I am house painting with my son, Leif. All my life, I have been very active, biking, hunting, fishing, and I’ve especially enjoyed hiking at the beautiful Pine Creek Falls near Livingston. The natural beauty of the environment is breathtaking, and the robust walk to the falls is invigorating.

Hard physical labor has always been part of my work history. For 17 years, I worked in the oil fields of Alaska and North Dakota, working on a drilling rig. The repetitive heavy lifting required for the job affected my back, legs, and knees. And when I moved to Montana in 1994, I started a house painting business which meant I was constantly up and down ladders, carrying ladders and heavy buckets of paint. All those years of strenuous activity finally took a toll on this 70-year-old body, and to make matters worse, my foot slipped off the ladder while I was painting my mother’s house.

To keep from falling, I hyper-flexed my leg which caused a tear in the meniscus cartilage in my right knee. It hurt, but the pain was tolerable so I continued to work. Yet three months later, the pain became so excruciating that I could hardly walk or get in and out of my truck.

My later career as a truck driver in the North Dakota oilfields was thrown in jeopardy due to the pain I was currently experiencing in my right knee. Fortunately, I was covered by my employer’s insurance plan and could get arthroscopic surgery performed, a procedure that removes the torn, frayed cartilage which permits the internal wound to heal, reduces the pain, and improves movement.

After taking some time off for healing, I was finally able to return to work. My range-of-motion improved, my knee felt better, but it was short-lived. Pictures taken at the time of my surgery showed that I was bone-on-bone at two friction points within the knee joint. This was alarming! I did not want to go the mainstream medical route of pain killers, cortisone and steroids that only mask the pain. A full knee replacement was not an option. This surgery is not always successful and even the newest models eventually wear out. There had to be a better way.

When I discovered a series of Joint Repair Clinic articles in this magazine, it was like an answer to a prayer. The logical information and testimonies gave me hope. I read that Human Umbilical Cord Tissue (HUCT) Allograft Injections have the remarkable ability to provide cushioning and viscosity in the joints and serve to increase range of motion.

The platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses injections of a concentration of a patient’s own platelets to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints. In this way, PRP injections use each individual patient’s own healing system to improve musculoskeletal problems.

This natural common-sense approach appealed to me. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I booked an appointment to Joint Repair Clinic of MT and received my treatment through their Missoula clinic. My program included X-rays, chiropractic adjustments, and HUCT and PRP injections in my right knee. The supportive staff also coached me on nutrition and exercises.

I can honestly say that I felt improvement within the first week. Of course, natural healing is not an overnight quick fix, but my kne