Gustav A. Hemwall (1908-1998)

Gustav A. Hemwall (October 24, 1908 – November 22, 1998) was a physician at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois and pioneer in Prolotherapy.

Birth
Gustav was born in 1908 in Chicago to Anders Hemwall I (1887-1956) and Sigrid S. Lawson (1877-1957). His father was a tailor. His siblings include: Anders Hemwall II (1904) who died as an infant; Ruth Elizabeth Hemwall (1905-1993) who married Charles Peter Tiedje I (1912-1980); and Helen Edith Hemwall (1913-1997) who never married. Gustav married Helen in 1933. He died in 1998 of a stroke at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, where he had been attending a medical conference. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Chicago.

Prolotherapy
In 1955, at an American Medical Association meeting, Gustav was introduced to a novel treatment for chronic lower back pain by Dr. George S. Hackett, MD. This new technique was called Prolotherapy. Dr. Hemwall went to Dr. Hackett's office in Canton, Ohio, and was trained in the technique. Between 1955 until his retirement in 1996, Gustav became the main proponent of Prolotherapy in the United States.