Prolotherapy (proliferation therapy) is a form of regenerative injection treatment that initiates the body's healing process at the sites of injection.
what is prolotherapy?
Prolotherapy is a technique of injection therapy used to jumpstart healing at many different areas within the body – from healing sports injuries to helping to regenerate hair loss.
At Woz Wellness, we practice Prolotherapy solely to treat musculoskeletal diseases, injuries, and pain that affects ligaments, tendons or joints.
Our mission is to prevent orthopedic surgery.
Most Prolotherapy treatments involve ultrasound-guided injection of high concentration dextrose (sugar or glucose) to induce an osmotic stress response at the site of injury. This jumpstarts healing at the precise point of pain.
Dextrose is a naturally occurring irritant substance found in the body, making Prolotherapy with dextrose a safe and low risk option for treating many different types of musculoskeletal disorders.
Depending on the areas being treated, the severity of the injury, and other variables, additional compounds may be used such as:
• Orthobiologic substances which include platelet rich plasma (PRP)
• Plasma protein concentrate may be used when doing PRP
• Concentrates of mesenchymal signaling cells (MSCs aka “stem cells” obtained from bone marrow or fat obtained via liposuction)
• Low doses of sclerosing agents (typically used in spider vein treatments, this is often used in conjunction with Dextrose in a lower, diluted dose to increase the inflammation level obtained by Dextrose treatment by itself.)
• Occasionally hyaluronic acid is placed inside of joints along with Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) or other orthobiologics in order to increase joint lubrication and support healing environment within the joint. This is only ever used directly inside of a joint.
how does Prolotherapy work?
The underlying principle of Prolotherapy is to induce controlled inflammation (via injection) at the site of the injury or pain.
The proliferating solution (dextrose, PRP, stem cells, etc.) placed at the precise point of injury or pain triggers a localized inflammatory response, which, in turn, stimulates the body’s healing mechanisms:
• inflammation attracts your natural circulating stem cells to the areas injected
• inflammation activates local stem cells to initiate repair
The end goal is to tighten the ligaments and stabilize the joints so that your tissue tolerance of activity reaches the point where you no longer have pain.
Healing from a single treatment of Prolotherapy continues for a six to twelve month period, though most often several treatments (3-6) are performed about a month apart.
Here’s what healing looks like hours, days, weeks, and months after a Prolotherapy treatment:
types of Prolotherapy performed
benefits of prolotherapy
Non-Surgical Approach
• Prolotherapy is a fast, minimally invasive, non-surgical, out-patient procedure
• Viable option for individuals seeking non-surgical alternatives or those who may not be suitable candidates for Orthopaedic surgery
• Less costly than Orthopaedic surgery
• Faster recovery time than most Orthopaedic surgeries
Prolotherapy is a Non-Corticosteroid Approach
While steroids are often used to control musculoskeletal pain, the effect of steroids on tissues is generally negative, resulting in decreased healing and poorer tissue quality.
Click here to learn more about why Prolotherapy is a usually a superior treatment option than cortisone steroid injections.
Prolotherapy is a Safe, Low Risk Procedure
Prolotherapy is considered a safe, low risk procedure for most patients.
Risks include temporary pain around the injection area and stiffness in the injection space. This is not uncommon because this is the result of the inflammation process beginning to take effect. This is the start of the healing process.
Often, the only risks from Prolotherapy are superficial bruising, some bleeding, or swelling at the injection site, which dissipate after hours, days, or a few weeks.
After the first couple treatments I could hold my head up again. I am still awed this was done with dextrose."
