Prolotherapy

Prolotherapy is a complementary medical treatment for muscle and joint pain and injuries. With prolotherapy, a mixture of liquids is injected into damaged or dysfunctional joints, cartilage, ligaments and tendons to allow these tissues to rebuild and repair themselves. The injected liquid creates a small, controlled irritation in the area where it is injected, causing the cells that produce healing substances to divide and proliferate. The injected fluid is called proliferating fluid. The injection of proliferating fluid initiates the body’s healing response.

Prolotherapy is completed in a total of 30 minutes or less, including pre-procedure preparation. Careful injections are made in the designated areas. Immediately after the treatment, the patient rests for 10-15 minutes by applying ice packs to the injected areas. After ice application, the patient can return home.

Prolotherapy involves injections of aqueous solutions to relieve pain in the affected joints. These injections typically contain natural substances such as dextrose, saline, in addition to a local anaesthetic such as lidocaine. This treatment is different from platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and steroid injections, which require stem cells from the person being treated. However, some experts consider PRP injections to be a subtype of prolotherapy. In prolotherapy, dextrose solution is usually preferred. Dextrose is a potentially irritating solution and triggers the body’s healing response. This activates repair factors in the body. This activity begins to strengthen and repair the damaged ligaments in the joint. The strengthening of the ligaments helps to stabilize the joint over time.