What Conditions Respond Well to Prolotherapy?

You may be a candidate for prolotherapy if you suffer from chronic joint pain. This innovative treatment, also known as regenerative injection therapy, stimulates your body’s natural healing ability. 

At the LA Pain Doctor in Metairie, Laplace, Harvey, New Orleans, and Luling, Louisiana, we can assess your medical history, current condition, and evaluate if you’re a good candidate for prolotherapy.

How prolotherapy works 

Prolotherapy dates back to the 1930s. Physician George Hacket, MD, treated a partial dislocation of a patient’s jaw. At the time, Dr. Hackett injected sodium psylliate, a salt mixture, into his patient to stimulate healing.

At LA Pain Doctor, we often use a substance that includes sugar and a local anesthetic. The sugar serves as a mild irritant for your targeted tissues. Thanks to the body’s natural healing response, it responds to the irritant by sending stem cells and platelets to the target area. 

This mix of stem cells, which can morph into any type of cell, and platelets, which contain growth factors, serves to reduce pain and inflammation and even regenerate new cell growth so your body heals. 

Which health conditions respond well to prolotherapy? 

If you suffer from any of the following conditions, you’ve probably tried many different approaches to find pain relief. Since prolotherapy targets damaged ligaments and tendons, it’s especially effective for joint pain. Other conditions that respond well include:

• Chronic lower back pain 
• Ligament and tendon tears
• Osteoarthritis
• Joint instability 
• Degenerative disc disease 
• Slow-healing injuries 

Strained ligaments and chronic aches and pains are common as our bodies age, but prolotherapy may be able to reduce your pain so you feel more energetic and healthier. Prolotherapy improves joint stability, reduces pain and inflammation, and, as we’ve said, stimulates your body’s natural healing ability.

What to expect from prolotherapy

Our doctors evaluate your medical history and may request diagnostic testing like X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to ensure your candidacy. 

If you’re a good candidate, they inject the solution into your targeted pain areas. You’ll likely feel sore for a day or two, but prolotherapy has few other side effects. We may recommend a series of injections for a full course of treatment, depending on the severity of your injuries. 

Prolotherapy could be the modality that reduces your pain and helps your body heal so you can live pain-free. If you’re ready to try a natural approach to healing your body, LA Pain Doctor can help. You can schedule an appointment by calling any of our locations or using our online booking tool.