Posted on 3rd Sep 2011 @ 6:57 PM

The United States has developed a global reputation for medical breakthroughs. Even as many of Americas' core competencies have been equaled and surpassed by other nations, the U.S. still tops the list in the creation of new drugs, treatments, and procedures which cure ailments and improve patients' quality of life.

So where will Americans begin turning for relief from their chronic back pain? Surprisingly, the answer may be Europe. At least it was for one American golfer.

Fred Couples has 15 PGA Tour wins on his resume, including The Masters tournament in 1992. In recent years, he has been competing on the senior circuit known as The Champions Tour, where he captured four titles in 2010. But his golf game cratered this year as he battled through chronic back pain. His best tournament finish in 2011 was a tie for seventh place.

Couples says the pain made him constantly tired and grumpy. No treatment or ergonomic product he tried was able to provide him relief. Most back specialists in the U.S. told him to rest for three months and/or undergo surgery.

But then Couples heard about a new medical procedure being practiced in Germany which has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So he traveled to Dusseldorf and received a handful of injections at a medical clinic. Then he flew home and took 2 1/2 months off before returning to golf at this month's Senior Players' Championship in New York - which he eventually won for his first career major title on the Champions Tour.

So what's this "miracle treatment" that Couples received? It's known as Orthokine therapy.

Basically, the treatment uses proteins found in the blood as "medication" to heal back pain. Couples gave a sample of his blood to the medical staff who then took out the proteins and injected them into Couples' back. The receptors in the proteins neutralized the "messenger substances" that caused inflammation and pain sensations in his back.

A 2007 study concluded that Orthokine therapy was more effective in relieving back pain than cortisone shots (which are commonly prescribed to patients in America). Two years later, another study lauded the success of Orthokine therapy in patients with osteoarthritis in the knees. However, some believe that it won't be getting approved by the FDA in the near future because of opposition by orthopedic surgeons and the pharmaceutical industry - both of whom stand to lose major revenue if the procedure is available in America.

Orthokine therapy has been helping patients in Germany for over a decade. The treatment isn't cheap: an initial consultation costs about US$400, and each injection will set you back almost US$750 (about three to six injections are recommended over a period of a few weeks). But for some people who are in agony due to back pain, parting with a few thousand dollars would be worth it if they could experience relief and regain control of their lives.

It certainly worked for Fred Couples.