Prolotherapy

Prolotherapy is a simple, natural technique that stimulates the body to repair the painful area when the natural healing process needs a little assistance.

The basic mechanism of Prolotherapy is simple. A substance is injected into the affected ligaments or tendons, which leads to local inflammation. The localized inflammation triggers a wound healing cascade, resulting in the deposition of new collagen, the material that ligaments and tendons are made of. New collagen shrinks as it matures. The shrinking collagen tightens the ligament that was injected and makes it stronger. Prolotherapy has the potential of being 100 percent effective at eliminating and chronic pain due to ligament and tendon weakness, but depends upon the technique of the individual Prolotherapist. The most important aspect is injecting enough of the solution into the injured and weakened area.

Prolotherapy involves the treatment of two specific kinds of tissue: tendons and ligaments.A tendon attaches a muscle to the bone and involves movement of the joint. A ligament connects two bones and is involved in the stability of the joint. A strain is defined as a stretched or injured tendon; a sprain, a stretched or injured ligament. Once these structures are injured, the immune system is stimulated to repair the injured area. Because ligaments and tendons generally have a poor blood supply, incomplete healing is common after injury.This incomplete healing results in these normally taut, strong bands of fibrous or connective tissue becoming relaxed and weak. The relaxed and inefficient ligament or tendon then becomes the source of chronic pain and weakness.

The ideal Prolotherapy candidate has the following:
1.Pain originating from a ligament or tendon
2. Strong immune system
3. Willingness to improve and receive follow-up visits
4. Healthy diet
5. Positive mental outlook

When Prolotherapy Does Not Work
The most common reasons why a person may not attain 100 percent improvement with Prolotherapy are the following:
1. Inadequate (depressed) immune system
2. Nutritional deficiencies
3. Hormonal deficiencies
4. Other factors causing the pain that are not being addressed
5. Correct area being treated but repair not yet complete
6. Wrong area being treated

This last fact is often overlooked. A good example of this relates to patients with lower back pain. All that is typically needed for curing back pain is for the patients to receive Prolotherapy to the lower back at the sacroiliac joints. In a small percentage of the people,
the sacroiliac joint remains weakened because the pelvic joint in the front (pubic symphysis) also needs to be treated. The sacroiliac ligaments, in this instance, will only maintain the strength that is attained with Prolotherapy if the pubic symphysis is also treated.