When Physical Therapy Is Not Enough

By Mary Babcock, DO

Integrative Pain Relief With Prolotherapy

Many people suffer from chronic pain but do not know the forms of treatment to aid this issue. Doctors who specializes in treating neck pain, knee pain, knee meniscal tears, wrist pain, osteoarthritis, shoulder pain including rotator cuff tears, elbow pain, foot pain, and other musculoskeletal pains or injuries are now treating these conditions using prolotherapy injections.

Prolotherapy, also known as non-surgical ligament and tendon reconstruction and regenerative joint reconstruction, is an orthopedic procedure that stimulates the body’s healing process in order to both strengthen and repair an injured ligament or tendon in the connective tissues. This form of injection therapy directly addresses the cause of instability and repairs a weakened site in order to produce new collagen tissues that results in permanent stabilization of the joint and reduce pain completely.

Prolotherapy injections naturally stimulate the body’s healing mechanisms in order to create a new foundation of tissues in the weakened area. This treatment is done through an injection directly to a given site, which tricks the body to repair itself again. After the injection therapy is completed, a mild inflammatory response occurs because the injection encourages growth of new, normal ligaments that result in the tightening of the weakened area.

This injection therapy is comprised of natural substances that help stimulate the healing response in one’s body in combination with local anesthetics to aid the pain of the injection. The formulas for this treatment are comprised of ingredients such as dextrose, saline, sarapin, procaine, or lidocain. Recently, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and adult stem cells sources that are taken from the same person’s bone marrow or fat tissue (adipose) are also used in conjunction to the other medications.

The course of treatment with prolotherapy varies per person and the severity of the areas being treated. Traditional intervals for this treatment are every 3-6 weeks with an average interval of once per month for a total of 4-6 treatments. This number can increase depending on the nature of the issue.

Though this treatment depends on specific variables such as a patient’s ability to heal and medical history, prolotherapy has proven to be extremely effective with patients living with conditions such as low back pain, as there have been studies that show a 95% rate of improvement from this injection therapy. That is why prolotherapy injections are the best course of treatment for such chronic pain conditions as it targets and assists in getting you back to your normal daily activities.