Meet Dr. Brian McDonagh, a Neuropathy Treatment Specialist who stands out as a seasoned physician with an impressive tenure exceeding 30 years, primarily based in Northbrook, Illinois. His career is a testament to his unwavering commitment to restorative medicine, a field he turned to driven by a personal quest to address his own knee pain. Disenchanted by conventional orthopedic solutions, Dr. McDonagh explored prolotherapy, discovering not only its efficacy in treating degenerative arthritis but also its profound impact on his well-being. This journey of self-healing led him to Neural Prolotherapy, now known as Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT), a groundbreaking approach he deemed highly effective for many neurologic disorders.
Driven by his positive experiences and the substantial healing potential of these therapies, Dr. McDonagh became a pioneer in advocating for their broader acceptance. His expertise in PIT now extends to a wide array of neurological conditions, such as migraine, MS, Crohn’s Disease, trigeminal neuralgia, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), tennis elbow, and lower back pain. His innovative use of dextrose injections has shown promising results in enhancing muscular strength among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and musculoskeletal disabilities. His challenge now is in reversing blindness in Glaucoma patients, and it has an early positive result in phase 2 as of today 09/12/2024
Dr. McDonagh’s educational journey began at the prestigious School of Medicine at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he graduated in 1968. After internship and two years of Rehabilitation Medicine at Wayne State, Detroit, Dr. McDonagh was in private practice in suburban Chicago. In a landmark move in 1980, he established Vein Clinics of America. This initiative marked a pivotal shift from traditional vein stripping surgery to minimally invasive, image-guided injection treatments, revolutionizing the management of vein disorders. His pioneering work, documented in the Journal of Phlebology in 2002, has since gained international recognition and adopted now in most countries.
Dr. McDonagh’s career is a narrative of innovation, dedication, and the relentless pursuit of healing. His contributions to medicine, especially in the realms of restorative and neurological therapies, underscore his role as a distinguished physician committed to improving patient care and outcomes.
Book a complementary visit, meet Dr. Brian McDonagh, and Live Life Pain Free!
Written by M.Stark, Publisher, Best Version Media, March 2023
Even though I’ve been using Dilute Glucose to treat various neuropathies since 2210, I didn’t see my first MS patient until 2018. He was an old friend since we were teenagers and I met him again in Vancouver, when I was attending a Medical Seminar. After I examined him I saw his MS as similar to the many Peripheral Neuropathies I had seen, and so I began treating his MS with the glucose solution. He was a rapid responder to the glucose, and the numbness he had from his knees to his shoes was gone at the end of his first treatment. I gave him about 4 or 5 more treatments. He has only a few vague symptoms which have not deteriorated since, and he’s very satisfied with his results. His MS has been in remission for about 4 or 5 years, and he takes no medicines. I’ve only treated a handful of MS patients since that time because I’m not a neurologist and therefore I’m not on a list of MDs who are referred MS pts to. However if I was a neurologist, I’d probably treat MS the way as other neurologists do because neurologists don’t learn PIT and they’ve missed out on an opportunity to refine neurology not only for MS but to many other diseases which had better results.
Before I found Prolotherapyy and PIT, I discovered a non-surgical way to treat large varicose veins by using ultrasound imaging that reveals the cause of the large varicose veins, i.e., the reversed direction of the blood flow in veins, and the site of leaks from deeper veins into other veins making them varicose; these leaks can be corrected by injecting the origin of those leaks, using imaging for precision of the injection, as well as to confirm that the correction was a success. I published my work known as The COMPASS Treatment for varicose veins in 2002, and it is practised in many countries.
Ultrasound imaging had never been used before to identify these sites. We were the first vein clinic of this type. The only option in the USA was vein stripping surgery which left many scars and had a high recurrence rate. I published our results in the Journal of Phlebology in 2002 which gave us the necessary credibility for further growth. That event changed us from being merely Alternative medicine to Mainstream medicine. I was the Founder of Vein Clinics of America, and we grew to 27 Clinics in the eastern half of the USA. After 30 years of training and teaching vein diseases, it was time to move on to other potentially exciting medical interests.
I met Dr. John Lyftogt in 2010 when he first visited the US to introduce PIT to an American physician audience in L.A. Dr Lyftogt had used PIT to treat Sports injuries at the Christchurch, NZ, Stadium built for the Commonwealth Games in 1974, and found it to be superior to conventional treatments of sports injuries, especially shortening the down time before the athletes could return to their sports activities.
I applied the PIT concept to Neurological disorders because many neuropathies share the same type of defect including: Migraine, Crohn’s disease/Ulc.Colitis, dropped foot and Muscular Dystrophy, etc . I also have good reason to believe that treating the Optic Nerve could likely prevent and reverse the progressive blindness caused by Glaucoma, and possibly Macular degeneration too. Perhaps the Optic nerve could be soaked by a glucose solution using a soft Flat rubber catheter. Most nerves don’t die from neuropathy; they can be dormant for years and can return using near-nerve glucose
I’m the Founder of Vein Clinics of America (in 1980), and I developed the injection protocols that outperformed the surgical treatment (Vein Stripping surgery) for varicose veins and venous leg ulcers. I didn’t invent vein injection which had been used for decades with varying success, but I developed a new method using ultrasound imaging which made the disease visible and easier to treat for the first time, and where we could see and inject the cause of the problem veins, and witness it work much more effectively. Now, it’s used around the world instead of vein stripping surgery. I called my procedure the COMPASS protocol, and it was published in the Journal of Phlebology in 2002 (UK).
What is your background in Peripheral Neuropathy?
There wasn’t an effective treatment available when I began treating Peripheral Neuropathy in 2010, but buffered D5W solution seemed like the one to try, and it was very effective in most cases.
This treatment stands out as it offers renewed hope for many longstanding conditions that have often been overlooked or deemed untreatable by conventional methods. Specifically, I began by focusing on Peripheral Neuropathies—a spectrum of disorders that have historically received limited attention from neurologists.
My approach involves meticulous micro-injections, a technique that, while labor-intensive, has proven to be exceptionally effective. This innovative injection treatment was aimed directly at the symptomatic nerves in the legs which had symptoms of numbness, shooting pains, and muscle weakness. It sometimes produced immediate recovery but more often there was an interval of several hours for the nerves to recover and regenerate. Some patients with PN do not respond well, perhaps because of toxins (Chemotherapy) diabetes, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), etc. PN is most responsive if treated early so as to minimize non-responsiveness.
The above method not only addresses Peripheral Neuropathy but has also inspired the development of improved treatments for Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s Disease, & Migraine.
Why is this proven treatment not covered by insurance?
Although they are cheaper, safer, and more effective, insurers won’t cover PeriNeural Injection Therapy, (PIT, by injection). Insurers use terms like “Experimental or Cosmetic” to justify not covering these methods for apparently political and financial reasons, even though these treatments can replace in-hospital surgery. Why are the health insurers allowed to block the evolution of safer and more effective treatments? This should be a decision made by the doctor and patient.
Why do patients trust you?
Because they are usually referred by a friend who has been treated here, plus I’ve been around for a long time and people know me. Our work is not covered or reimbursed by the health insurers, as mentioned above, but our work is less expensive than the surgical option, and the co-pay for surgery can be close to our gross fees. Our treatments make more sense, are safer, quick acting and durable.
What does this new type of treatment mean to the patient and to medicine in general?
It’s a new access to treating a whole group of diseases quicker, better, more completely and safer, using current inexpensive medicine & technology. It’s more gratifying to all, including the doctor, because we’ve not seen anything like it before.
I use Dextrose as a way into controlling and eliminating neuropathic pain and the motor/sensory manifestations of many, if not all, neuropathies, both central or peripheral. One of the challenges is “where to find that access point” that turns off the symptoms and the autoimmune triggering factor. It is always automatically disengaged by dextrose. There are many questions to be answered. But these treatments are exciting because of their rapid response and freedom from recurrence.
Q. Why and how does dilute Dextrose help so well as you suggest when so many medical doctors and nurses, etc, say that Dextrose is a placebo and is totally ineffective?
A. I understand the confusion, especially since I’ve been using Dextrose successfully for 14 years, and I’ve placed 26 published medical references on my website to educate the medical profession. Dextrose can be a placebo because it is so safe, but if used by “near nerve injection” it can be very powerful. It is used on the Stellate ganglion for PTSD (published) and when I use it on the optic nerve in my current study; not published yet, it can restore lost vision. In 2017, the Mayo Clinic published an article on the comparative treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Dextrose and other injectables, and with follow up comparisons after 6 months, and Dextrose was the superior agent. The use of Dextrose for Neurological disorders began about 2002 with Dr Lyftogt in NZ. But the treatment of Arthritis with concentrated Dextrose began in the 1930s by George Hackett MD, a Trauma Surgeon in Canton, Ohio, when he saw so many patients going for orthopedic surgery because of Ligament laxity. He thought he could find a safe substance to inject the ligaments that would cause ligament inflammation and reverse the laxity. It worked well and it saved many patients from unnecessary surgery. After I had my arthritic knee joints injected with Dextrose I was so impressed that I went to the Prolotherapy School in Madison, WI, for training. After that I joined a group of doctors who went to Honduras on medical missions using Prolotherapy for degenerative arthritis. That clinic has been in operation since 1969. That was my beginning in Prolotherapy (Prolo is the abbreviation of Proliferation, which is the desired action that promotes “regeneration”), but since then it has been used to regenerate the entire arthritic joint from ligaments to the articular surfaces. It should be tried first before surgery if you want an easier treatment. Other innovative medical treatments have been used since then, including PRP, Stem cells, and Ozone.
Dr Lyftogt in NZ was trained in Prolotherapy, and it occurred to him to see if dextrose could help painful nerve problems, and it worked well there too but it required significant dilution/modification before it became as effective as it is today. He treated hundreds of athletes in an Olympic style Stadium in NZ, where he had rapid outcomes. I met him when he came to the US in 2010 to give a lecture and a workshop in LA. Since that time he has been traveling the world teaching doctors how to use dilute dextrose most effectively. I attended many of his teaching events, including a week at his Master Class in Christchurch, NZ, in 2013. He has trained over 3000 doctors throughout the world. He just retired in October 2023. Initially, he called his treatment Neural Prolotherapy, but for technical reasons he changed the name to Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT). Some say that PIT doesn’t adequately describe the treatment, but neither does Chemotherapy.
So how does D5W (5% Dextrose in Water) inhibit pain and restore tissue maintenance, renewal and repair following injury? There is a scientific explanation that has to do with Neuro-energetics and ATP, which describes how glucose restores a disorder of Glycolysis in the C-fibers of the nerves. All medical doctors are familiar with ATP (Adenine Triphosphate) and that all living organisms depend on ATP for the energy required in all cellular processes. Glucose has to be transported in the circulation into the cell by the GLUT transporter before its energy can be transformed to ATP. Most living cells on earth have the 10 enzymes required for glycolysis, an ancient primordial intracellular energy production pathway (flux). It produces two “3 carbon molecules” called pyruvate which enter the Krebs cycle for further action producing 36 molecules of ATP in mitochondria. C-fibers have mitochondria but rely on glycolysis for instant response to harm (injury) to the skin and its nerves. This is the essence of nociception (response to pain). C-fibers run quickly out of ATP and depolarize, triggering spike formation, experienced consciously as C-fiber pain associated impaired healing, tissue maintenance and renewal. What we do with D5W is temporarily restoring C-fiber ATP (E) levels until the cell can recover its own ATP production. //
Perhaps the 30-60 second response of the Crohn’s disease patient to Dextrose within 30-60 seconds is the most impressive I’ve seen in a medical procedure. But there are many other impressive responses. Switching off pain and dysfunction within a few seconds is normal with neurogenic inflammation. Migraine pain is usually gone in a minute with Dextrose but it can take many hours in the ER where the use of strong analgesics is common. The difference is that the ER is attempting to overcome the pain, but dextrose stops the pain by restoring the C-fiber ATP level. It also relieves Trigeminal neuralgia quickly, and the same with Rotator Cuff pain and Frozen Shoulder. The only negative is that C-fiber response is blocked by Opioids which then fails to respond to glucose.
I began treating Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) about 2013, using D5W on the degenerating peripheral nerves, mostly in the legs, but they can occur almost anywhere, e.g., the lacrimal nerves which cause Dry Eye or Wet Eye.
And commonly the Superior Cluneal nerves referring pain to the hip and thigh descending down to the foot; often accompanied by balance problems. It’s all treatable and responsive. You don’t need surgery which can’t help anyway.
A lot of Peripheral Neuropathy is caused by Chemotherapy and Radiation. This is more serious because it can totally destroy your peripheral nerves, so you should begin treatment early, as soon as you notice the symptoms of tingling and numbness. The treatment can’t oppose the Chemo/Radiation; it can only protect/regenerate the nerves if treatment begins ASAP. Urinary bladder frequency or incontinence, male and female, is another PN, but it can be normalized if caught in time with Obturator nerve injections high on the thigh.
Muscular Dystrophy is a recent surprise: A 21 yr old male presented in a wheelchair. His main complaint was pain in his hip and knee joints and in the diminished thigh muscles between those joints. I treated one leg, leaving the other leg as a control, with dextrose to those painful nerves and he had remarkable relief with ability to move his hip joint with those diminished muscles. His dad drove him about 7 hours each way, and I contacted the patient several times for his progress. His pain relief lasted for weeks, and I suggested that he contact the nearest branch of the Muscular Dystrophy Association for their assistance in getting financial assistance for what appears to be a breakthrough in the treatment of his disease. They were not cooperative, and his family had no health insurance. I told him that I would like him to stay nearby my office for further treatment, Phys Therapy and Orthopedic consultation, etc., as needed, but I think he’s given up. I still have other ideas. I think this kid has a chance of escaping his walker if we can continue.
I began treating Multiple Sclerosis about 2007when I examined an old friend who I saw walking with 2 canes. His examination revealed a pattern similar to that of the many Peripheral Neuropathy patients I had previously treated. I treated him as a PN patient, and the numbness he had on both legs for 20 years was gone in about 30 minutes. I asked about his diagnosis, and he had been to a special clinic for MS. He had not been improving clinically at his home clinic but he recovered rapidly in the short time with my treatment. He felt his legs getting stronger. His home clinic uses the standard treatment with DMTs and infusions, etc, which is unnecessary when normalizing the peripheral nerves with Dextrose. Standard MS treatments are based on the false assumption that MS is a CNS (Central Nerve System) disease, meaning that it originates in the brain and spinal cord. Their treatment is lengthy and disappointing. I see most evidence peripherally and I treat it as a Peripheral Neuropathy and my MS patients respond much better. They don’t show the dreaded progression. I’m willing to share my knowledge with the status quo if invited.
Brian McDonagh, MD