Prolotherapy is a natural injection treatment given in the doctor’s office that has demonstrated potential to cure 100 percent of chronic pain in an appropriate candidate when given by an adequately skilled physician. (1)

In 400 B.C. Hippocrates would lance the injuries of athletes with hot pins. Strangely enough, he claimed that this treatment worked to heal their injuries. He was perhaps the very first prolotherapist.

Prolotherapists attest that the root cause of most chronic pain is unhealed damage to tendons and ligaments. Tendons are what connect muscle to bone, and ligaments are what connect bone to bone. Unlike muscles, tendons and ligaments don’t heal well because they do not get much blood flow to them. When a person has an injury, the body causes inflammation around the site. This inflammation triggers a series of processes in a “healing cascade” that brings blood to the area and heals the injury in a number of ways. When the inflammation disappears, the body has finished its accelerated efforts at healing. If tendons and ligaments are not completely healed by this time, then chronic pain can set in.

A prolotherapist is trained in locating damaged tendons and ligaments throughout the body by physical examination. Then he or she will inject damaged tendons and ligaments in the needed area(s) with an “irritant” solution. This solution intentionally causes local inflammation just at the site of the injury, signaling the body to kick start a new healing cascade, as if the site has been freshly injured. Typical components of the solution are dextrose, zinc, and sodium morrhuate. A typical treatment may involve anywhere from 10 to over 100 injections. The treatment is typically given 4 to 6 times, each spaced 1 month apart. Soreness for a few days is expected after each treatment. If all the sites of injury were injected with enough solution, then this is usually all that is required for complete resolution of pain.

In addition to healing connective tissue, prolotherapy also can regenerate joints, cartilage, and meniscus injuries.

While receiving prolotherapy, anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen are not allowed, since they would interfere with the inflammation that prolotherapy intentionally creates. These insights from prolotherapy also debunk the popular myth or doing R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compress, elevate) for an injury. Doing any of these would only decrease blood flow and inflammation, which is a recipe for helping an injury become chronic.

Integrative physicians who practice prolotherapy list other factors that may need to be addressed for chronic pain to resolve. These include lifestyle, sleep quality, diet, food and environmental allergies, chronic infections, toxins, and hormonal imbalances. Adjuncts to prolotherapy can be used to increase responsiveness if necessary. These include the addition of “platelet rich plasma” or various growth factors to the injections. Another popular modification is called “prolozone” (injecting ozone gas into the injury).

Modern prolotherapy has been practiced for decades and is one of those rare alternative therapies that is slowly gaining mainstream acceptance. The number of skilled doctors is still relatively limited. The most qualified physicians are usually the ones that do prolotherapy full time. You can google for prolotherapy videos to get an idea about the skill needed to give an effective treatment.

Prolotherapy costs on the order of $500 to treat one area. A course of treatment might then cost about $3000. Considering that chronic pain costs the American public $100 billion dollars a year (and only “manages” pain), and that 50 million Americans are living with chronic pain, this is a cost effective solution.

For an in-depth look at prolotherapy, read this 5 part series:

The Current State of Pain Management
Understanding “Good”and “Bad” Inflammation
The Causes of Chronic Pain
The Technique of Prolotherapy
Researching Prolotherapy

More info:
(1), 2, 3, 4, 5

Disclaimer: This article does not contain any medical advice. This website contains opinion and is for informational purposes only. If seeking medical advice, consult a licensed physician.

• 

Related Articles:

• Prolotherapy Cures Chronic Pain- Part 2 of 5
• Prolotherapy Cures Chronic Pain- Part 3 of 5
• Prolotherapy Cures Chronic Pain- Part 4 of 5
• Prolotherapy Cures Chronic Pain- Part 5 of 5
• Prolotherapy Cures Chronic Pain- Part 1 of 5
• 51 Supplements for Chronic Pain
• 19 Ways to Beat Cardiovascular Disease Naturally
• Lactoferrin: Its Uses in Cancer and Anemia
• 9 MORE Ways to Beat Cardiovascular Disease Naturally
• 15 Keys to Beating Cancer Naturally