Ozone Therapy: Is this the Silver Bullet for Herniated Disc?

In 1856, ozone (O3) was first used to disinfect operating rooms, in 1892 The Lancet described the use of ozone for the treatment of TB, during the WWI physicians applied it to infected wounds and found out the it had hemodynamic and anti-inflammatory properties. So where is TSB going with this article? Ozone chemonucleolysis was pioneered over fifteen years ago in Europe, but has not been widely adopted in other markets and the U.S.. Chemonucleolysis is a medical procedure that involves dissolving the nucleus pulposus in an intervertebral disc by the injection of an enzyme known as chymopapin. As most of our readers know, herniated disc affect over a million patients lives annually. Steroid injections offer temporary relief and some patients usually end up having back surgery. So have we arrived at a "silver bullet moment" for the treatment of herniated disk?

There is a company by the name of Minimus Spine, based in Austin, Texas that claims that it has a strong body of evidence that suggests that injecting ozone gas directly into a herniated disc is a safe and effective treatment. The primary obstacle for global acceptance has been the lack of a reproducible dosing capabilities and clinical trials. By providing reproducible dosing and creating a treatment regimen, Minimus believes that it can address all the controversial issues that have faced this therapy. So TSB asks its readers, "can Minimus become the first clinically proven commercial ozone therapy in the U.S.? Is it the Silver Bullet and can this product be accepted and adopted, or is it too early to tell. TSB wants to know what its readers believe?