QUESTO SITO E' DEDICATO A CHI SOFFRE DI DOLORI CRONICI

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What is Prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy (proliferative therapy), also known as ligament reconstructive therapy or sclerotherapy, is a recognized orthopedic procedure that stimulates the body's natural healing processes to strengthen joints weakened by trauma or arthritis. 

Joints weakened when ligaments and tendons are stretched, torn, or fragmented, become hypermobile and painful.  Traditional approaches with anti-inflammatory drugs and surgery often fail to stabilize the joint and relieve pain permanently.  Prolotherapy has the unique ability to directly address the cause of instability and repair the weakened sites, resulting in permanent stabilization of the joint.  When precisely injected into the site of pain or injury, prolotherapy creates a mild, controlled inflammation which stimulates the body to lay down new tendon or ligament fibers, resulting in a strengthening of the weakened structure.  When the joint becomes strong, pain will be relieved.

Prolotherapy's Range of Applications

Prolotherapy can be used to relieve a broad spectrum of conditions, including:

Prolotherapy's Role in Chronic Pain Relief

Prolotherapy is part of the comprehensive approach we take to curing chronic pain.  We evaluate each patient thoroughly with a personal history and physical exam.  We may ask patients to have X-rays performed before receiving prolotherapy.  In all cases involving chronic pain, our physicians will use their expertise in dietary and nutritional medicine and recommend specific supplements to maximize your health and ability to heal. 

How Effective is Prolotherapy?

The success of prolotherapy depends on a number of variables, including the patient's history and ability to heal.  Some 85-95% of patients suffering from low back pain with hypermobility, for instance, experienced remission when treated with prolotherapy.  In comparison, the Journal of Bone and Joint Therapy reports only a 52% improvement in patients treated with disc surgery. 

Are Prolotherapy Treatments Painful?

Patients can have prolotherapy without the need for anesthesia. The pain of an injection will vary depending on the structure to be treated and the choice of solution involved.  Because prolotherapy uses inflammation to heal the body, it may result in mild swelling and stiffness, which can be treated with pain relievers such as Tylenol.  If  necessary, we can perform conscious sedation for patients undergoing extensive treatment. 

How Often Are Treatments Administered?

Prolotherapy treatments are administered as determined on an individual basis, usually every one, two, or three weeks.  The length of the treatments is variable and depends on several factors, including nutritional status, ability to heal, and the degree and site of the injury involved. Some patients may experience complete relief from pain along with restoration of full function after only one or two treatments. Generally, however, some clinical instabilities of the musculoskeletal system require more than 3 sessions. and less extensive injuries can requie less sessions.  We ask patients to avoid any heavy-duty exertion during the treatments, but they are otherwise usually able to pursue their normal life and work schedules in between sessions.

                            Curing Chronic Pain with Prolotherapy

Have you ever suffered from chronic musculoskeletal pain?  If you have, you are not alone. Statistically speaking, 75% of Americans will experience chronic back pain in their lifetime. Unfortunately, a stressful and active lifestyle may not give our body the chance it deserves to heal. Instead we are prescribed medicines such as ibuprofen (i.e., Motrin, Advil) and naproxen (i.e., Aleve) that relieve pain and decrease the inflammatory process. 

However, natural healing is predicated upon inflammation. Your body releases naturally occurring chemicals known as cytokines, chemotactic substances and vasoactive factors in response to injury to help repair the body.  Drugs such as ibuprofen block these healing factors resulting in unrepaired microscopic damage to the tendons, ligaments and joints.  When these structures haven't completely healed, the body compensates and signals the surrounding muscles to spasm.  Chronic pain results from a combination of these factors. 

Therefore, without correcting the underlying problem, your pain will persist. Fortunately, there is a way to correct the underlying defect by stimulating the body to repair itself using a technique known as prolotherapy. 

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