10 Things You Need to Know About Prolotherapy
Given Prolotherapy’s rather new presence in the healthcare industry, many of my patients and friends often ask me how it works and why it is different from most other pain healing methods. Much of the time, these people are shocked to discover how much more effective Prolotherapy is and why it works. In this blog I have compiled the 10 most important things people should know about Prolotherapy and pain relief and why it matters to you.
1. Chronic artilage (meniscus) tears are the result of ligamentous instability.
Prolotherapy helps fix ligamentous instability
2. Sciatica” pain is typically not cause by compression of the actual sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve only senses pain below the knee. If you have pain that radiates down lumbosacral ligaments causing “referred” pain down the leg or irritation of the more superficial nerves eminating from the low back.
3. The current recommendation of “R.I.C.E.” (Rest, Ice, Compression,Elevation) leads to incomplete healing of acute injury.
The current recommendation of “R.I.C.E.” (Rest, Ice, Compression,Elevation) leads to incomplete healing of acute injury. Most ligament injuries only heal to 80% of the tissue’s original strength. Ice inhibits your body’s natural healing cells from maximal performance just after the injury. Rest also does not allow your body to heal as effectively. Prolotherapy is useful in the acute treatment of pain so you can return to activity quicker and helps your body’s own healing system achieve better strength of the injured tissue.
4. We treat your pain and not your MRI.
Many common causes of pain are not even visualized on modern Radiological studies. These studies are useful in many instances, but just because there is an “abnormality” does not mean it is the source of your pain. A complete physical exam where the physician actually touches the patient to explore areas of pain is the most reliable means of figuring out where your pain is coming from.
5. For prolotherapy to most effective your “healing system” needs to be functioning well.close
At Prolo-MD, we can assess the potential medical and nutritional problems that are contributing to your pain and allow you to “supercharge” your natural healing system.
6. NSAIDs don’t work for nerve pain.
Scientists performed microscopic analysis of an “inflamed” achilles tendon. Prostaglandins were lacking from this tissue. NSAIDs work on this chemical pathway. What was present were high levels of “neurogenic inflammation” leading to pain and tissue degeneration. Prolotherapy addresses these “inflamed nerves”.
7. Pain is not caused by your cartilage or meniscus.
Your cartilage has no sensory nerves. When you have pain around an injured joint or muscle, it is caused by nerve irritation in the ligaments, bones, tendons, muscles or the nerves themselves.
8. Just because Prolotherapy is “simple” and cost effective, does not mean that it is ineffective.
The molecular and cellular biology is quite complex and evolving. “Of several effective remedies, choose the least sensational.” Hippocrates
9. Despite insurance not covering prolotherapy, it is not experimental or investigational.
There are multiple Level I (the highest quality) studies proving its effectiveness. http://www.drreeves.com/Research-By-Topic
10. Taking NSAIDs (like Ibuprofen, Naproxen, etc) are not good for you.
The risk of taking these common prescription and over-the-counter medications include bleeding stomach ulcer, kidney damage, increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Plus, these medications are not good for your joints health (the very condition for which they are most often prescribed). And lastly, they inhibit your body’s natural healing system to fix the source of many peoples’ acute and chronic pain.
Go to top
