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Lakeside Sports and Pain Clinic PUTIING PAIN IN THE PAST
Left to right on the balcony of their lakeside clinic:
Theresa Plasencia, MSPT; Ernest Huhta, CMAT, EASS,
Brodie Hackney, Office Manager; Mark Wheaton. MD.
JMA'RK T. WHEATON, MD 952.593.0500 "
or those suffering from chronic pain, the long list of fa iled med ications and treatments can eas ily become discouraging. But along the shores of Lake Minnetonka, is a cl inic that offers hope for people wh o have tried everything or been told they need to learn to live with pain . After opening a solo practice in 1996, Deephaven native Mark Wheaton, MD ., founded the Lakeside Sports and Pain Cl inic near downtown Excelsior in 2001 to provide natura l solutions for deal ing with pain and chron ic disorders. Wh eaton quickly rea lized that one treatment perspective doesn't provide relief for every patient. and the best strategy would be a com bination of specialists working together. So, throughout the past 11 years, he has developed relationships with com plementary practices and now shares his office with two excellent practition ers, Ernest Huhta, CMAT, EASS, and Theresa Plasencia, MSPT. Together they address everything from muscle stra in s to complex chronic cond itions. Further, Wh eaton understands his patients' pain-after all, he was a chron ic pain patient once, too. From 1976 to 1981, Wheaton played tennis at the University of Minnesota and severely injured his lower back. As he dealt with the pain, he went on to graduate with a degree in physiology and then a med ical degree from George Washington University Medical School. After intern ship, residency and a sports medicine fellowship In Ca lifornia, Wheaton remembers a conversation with a col league about a little known procedure, Prolotherapy. "It sounded intriguing, " Wheaton says. "At first I was a skeptic, but as I studied the technique it made a lot of
sense to me." Following a comprehen sive Prolotherapy training course for physicians in 1996, Wheaton began adding the treatment option for his patients, and because of his history of low back pain, he, too, became a patient. "Because of this," Wheaton says, "I can tell my patients what it will be like before they begin. It gives peo ple reassurance to know that I've been through the treatment and have dealt with chronic pain." Prolotherapy is perfect for Wheaton's practice because it is natural, in that it triggers the body's own healing process to strengthen and repair injured tissues. There are no drugs involved. Instead, healing is achieved by injecting an all natural solution at the source of pain. This jump-starts the growth of new tis sue, which repairs the injury and elimi nates the problem rather than just cov ering up the symptoms. Prolotherapy isn't well-known, and there are only about 800 Prolotherapists throughout the country. Wheaton is a renowned Prolotherapist, having learned from one of the pioneers of the method, Dr. Gus Hemwall. He is a con tributing author to the book Prolo Your Sports Injuries Away and is an instructor in the specialized technique. Patients travel from across the country to see
FREE Informational SemInar
6.30 p.m. Sep . 6 ·n our Excelsior Office
orne meet our team, and learn more about our
natural and effective treatment method.
21920 Minnetonka Blvd. Excelsior. MN 55331
Wheaton for Prolotherapy, and he has books full of testimonials thanking him for his care. Ernest Huhta, CMAT, EASS, founded Naturale Alternatives, Inc., in 1990 in Menahga, Minn., three hours north west of Minneapolis. With extensive training in muscle dysfunction, Ernest brings a tremendous amount of knowl edge and experience to chronic pain conditions. He specializes in electroacu therapy, deep muscle therapy, myofas cial/myolymphatic massage, reflexolo gy and a host of other alternative techniques. These two practitioners came together in 1998 because Ernest previously had witnessed the benefits of Prolotherapy in many of his patients. While Wheaton stabilizes joints, Ernest resolves patients' muscle spasms and scar tissue with his techniques. Ernest brings a team of massage therapists with him to the Ex.s:elsior clinic twice a
month, focusing on muscle injury, lym phatic complications and scar tissue. For those patients who require the com bined effects of both Prolotherapy and muscle work, the results are powerful. "Dr. Wheaton and I work together to come up with ways to resolve injuries. We provide alternatives for people who have tried everything," Huhta says. Theresa Plasencia, MSPT, a licensed physical therapist and owner of a pri vate physical therapy practice, joined this team two years ago. With more than 19 years of experience, she pro vides individualized care for patients, not preset programs or routines. She helps patients with everything from back and neck pain, to women's issues including pelvic pain and incontinence. Theresa utilizes the same therapy meth ods that were successful in helping her with her own pain following pregnancy many years ago. She employs gentle techniques including craniosacral therapy, myofascial release and thera peutic exercises to guide her patients to better posture, better mechanics and less pain. She contributes significantly to the team by relieving pain and edu cating patients in their daily activities so that they can remain injury-free. Because Lakeside Sports and Pain Clinic is a place where people experi ence a serene setting, relaxing atmos phere and friendly staff, coupled with natural treatment options, people keep coming back to this lake clinic. "I love talking with people and spending time learning about their jobs, interests and families," Wheaton says. "I'm not under the time constraints of a larger clinic. Getting to know my patients, and fixing a problem that they thought would never go away, is very satisfying." For more information call 952.593.0500 or visit www.drmarkwheaton.com.