How Does Prolotherapy Work?
For patients interested in prolotherapy in Raleigh, NC, this is a painless, in-office procedure that takes around 10 minutes. Concentrated dextrose, and lidocaine or saline mixture, is injected directly into the site of pain, stimulating a mild, temporary inflammation. Sensing injury, the body floods the area with healing cells and promoting cellular growth in areas that often respond slowly to healing, such as joints, ligaments and tendons.
Prolotherapy promotes long-term, often permanent pain relief by stimulating the body’s ability to repair itself. This solution acts not as a nutrient, but by stimulating the body’s natural ability to repair these tissues, encouraging growth of new ligament or tendon fibers.
Multiple treatments encourage additional tissue growth to restore and strengthen the affected area. An individual plan is devised with prolotherapy treatments scheduled every two to six weeks until the healing is complete, and you can return to normal activities without pain.
Over the course of six to ten weeks, your body’s natural healing response leads to a reduction or even complete elimination of joint, ligament, or tendon pain.
Are there studies on this? Here are a few studies:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/21/9991
-One study published in the Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation found that prolozone therapy was effective in reducing pain and improving function in patients with knee arthritis. The study involved 50 patients with knee arthritis, and they received prolozone therapy once a week for four weeks. After the treatment, the patients reported significant reductions in pain and improvements in joint function.
What is Prolozone and How Does Prolozone Work?
Prolozone is the addition of oxygen gas to the prolotherapy mixture.
Here is a study on Prolozone:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8356009/
Is it safe?
Yes, Prolotherapy and Prolozone are very safe. the ingredients are dextrose (sugar), plus saline or lidocaine. Prolozone adds oxygen to the solution.
Why is this safer than steroid injections?
We have used steroid injections in medicine for many decades to decrease the pain of arthritis and inflammation in the soft tissue. However, in more recent studies we are finding that the long term use of steroid injections IN THE SAME AREA can atrophy healthy tissue and weaken muscle and tendons. And in many cases it can make the problem much worse in the long term. So why then do we use steroid injections? Simply put, we don’t really have anything better.
Schedule a Consultation
Prolotherapy is a highly effective way to treat orthopedic conditions like arthritis, tendonitis, and degenerative joint disease. As the Triangle’s first private practice solely dedicated to nonsurgical and minimally invasive procedures, board-certified orthopedic specialist Dr. Kanaan specializes in offering patients highly effective alternatives to treating orthopedic pain. To see if prolotherapy is right for you, schedule an appointment with Wake Nonsurgical Ortho. Contact us today at (919) 719-2270 for more information about how you can experience pain relief without the risk of surgery.
*NOTE TO PATIENTS: If you are interested in PRP, Stem Cells, or Lubricant Injections you will need to schedule a “NEW PATIENT visit” to discuss your medical history with Dr. Kanaan first. This is usually covered under your insurance plan. We will sometimes make exceptions for patients traveling over 3 hours to our clinic.