Prolotherapy Injections in San Diego
The procedure involves injecting a natural substance into the affected area that stimulates the body’s healing response, resulting in the growth of new tissue and the strengthening of connective tissue.
What Are Prolotherapy Injections?
In prolotherapy injections, we inject a liquid solution containing dextrose and saline into the affected area.
This solution also contains a numbing agent named lidocaine. This injection works on the affected site by triggering your body’s natural healing mechanism.
Thus, your body will restore new connective fibers to heal the damaged tissues.
So, in short, we’re using your body’s healing powers to help you recover from your injury.
Conditions Prolotherapy Injections Can Help With
According to the proponents of prolotherapy, it can treat any number of diseases or disorders. These may include joint pain, stiffness, tendinopathy, lower back pain, arthritis, and degenerative disk disease.
Prolotherapy injections are safe and relatively effective in a reduction in pain and improvement in function in individuals suffering from chronic musculoskeletal conditions.
Conditions prolotherapy can treat:
- Joint pain
- Tendinopathy/tendonitis
- Meniscal tears
- ACL/MCL injury
- Osteoarthritis
Prolotherapy injections are safe and relatively effective in a reduction in pain and improvement in function in individuals suffering from chronic musculoskeletal conditions.
Benefits of Prolotherapy Injections
Prolotherapy has numerous advantages, making it an attractive treatment option for many people:
- Prolotherapy is an effective treatment of pain in many patients.
- Prolotherapy has fewer side effects and is a low-risk procedure.
- Prolotherapy can be used alongside other pain management treatments and techniques.
How Do Prolotherapy Injections Work?
Number of Prolotherapy Injections Needed
The number of injections you’ll need typically falls around three, but this varies depending on the injury’s intensity and your initial reaction to the treatment. If you’ve had a recent injury, three times might be all it takes for your tissues to heal. However, if you have an ongoing condition like arthritis, you may require 4-5 injections.
We typically space out treatment 1-2 weeks apart to allow for connective tissue remodeling to be continually stimulated through the course of the treatment. Once a round of 3-5 injections is administered, we wait 2-3 months to see the net effect of the treatment. Rounds of injections can be repeated as needed.
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Are Prolotherapy Injections Painful?
In the majority of cases, the discomfort during the procedure is only temporary and will resolve quickly.
The type of pain you experience from an injection will vary depending on the joint or structure being treated, the solution used, and the skill of the doctor administering the injection.
Pain relief medication such as Tylenol can also help reduce any discomfort you may feel.
However, aspirin, ibuprofen, and other anti-inflammatory drugs are not recommended by physicians for pain relief. This is due to the suppression of the inflammatory healing process induced by injections in prolotherapy.
Cost of Prolotherapy Injections
Prolotherapy is not FDA-approved, hence, insurance policies don’t offer coverage.
The number of treatments required by an individual is variable. Please get in touch with our office if you’re interested in learning more about pricing information.
According to the Journal of Prolotherapy, the treatment course for the inflammatory condition in joints is as follows.
• Three to six injections are administered at intervals of 4 to 6 weeks
Risks Associated with Prolotherapy
Fortunately, this procedure does not lead to any serious side effects. In the worst-case scenario, you may experience some degree of pain at the injection site. Bruising local to the injection site is a rare event.
There is some degree of risk of nerve and joint damage. However, prolotherapy does not have greater risks than other standard procedures of dermal injections.
Is Prolotherapy Supported By Research?
In a study comprising 90 adults with OA of the knee persisting for a minimum of three months. Some study participants were administered dextrose prolotherapy whereas others were administered saline injections along with exercise. All participants were given an initial injection, followed by additional injections after 1, 5, and 9 weeks. Some study participants required further injections at weeks 13 and 17.
Participants who received injections reported feeling better after 52 weeks in the context of levels of pain, function, and stiffness. However, study participants who were administered dextrose injections reported relatively more significant improvement in pain, function, and stiffness levels. Another study comprising 24 participants, suffering from OA of the knee demonstrated improvement in symptoms after being administered just three dextrose injections for prolotherapy at intervals of 4 weeks.
A 2016 study established that OA in fingers and the knee can be relieved by dextrose prolotherapy; however, because of the smaller size of the studies, the underlying working mechanisms are yet to be identified. One laboratory test showed that it might work by eliciting an immune response from the body.
A study conducted found that when human cells are exposed to dextrose, they increase and produce some growth factors. These play a pivotal role in the process of repair of tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissue. The growth factors include platelet-derived growth factor (5), transforming growth factor β (6), epidermal growth factor (6), basic fibroblast growth factor (7), insulin-like growth factors
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