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HealthWatch: Biopuncture May Offer Quick Relief For Athletes

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) - Weekend warriors and professional sports athletes are gravitating towards an experimental therapy to treat their aches and pains known as biopuncture.

Those who practice biopuncture use it primarily to treat minor orthopedic problems as well as acute sports injuries, including knee, neck and back pain, ankle sprains, muscle tears, even tennis elbow.

The technique involves injecting tiny amounts of homeopathic medicine directly under the skin or into muscle.

"What we're looking at is a different way of approaching healing, helping stimulate the body to heal itself naturally instead of knocking down inflammation with ibuprofen or cortisone," said Dr. Lee Wolfer.

Dr. Wolfer underwent conventional medical training both at University of California, San Francisco and Harvard Medical Schools. She specializes in sports medicine, rehabilitation and pain management.

The injections include glucose as well as extracts from certain plants and minerals, such as Echinacea, arnica, chamomile and comfrey. The technique has been used in Europe for 20 years; the formulas in the medicines have been used in Europe for roughly a century.

Dr. Wolfer said she began offering biopuncture when she felt conventional medicine was not enough.

"In the last decade, it really hit a point where I felt I was not making the kind of difference that I wanted to make with my patients," she explained.

Some studies show the technique offers a benefit. However, according to the National Institutes of Health, there's scant evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any condition.

A session can run a few hundred dollars. Because it's considered experimental, biopuncture is generally not covered by insurance.

External Links:
Biopuncture Information
Dr. Lee Wolfer
National Institutes of Health: Homeopathy

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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