Prolotherapy

What is Sclerotherapy/Prolotherapy?

Sclerotherapy, also known as prolotherapy, is a recognized orthopedic procedure that stimulates the body's natural healing processes to strengthen joints weakened by traumatic or over-use injury. Joints weaken when ligaments or tendon attachments are stretched, torn, or fragmented, become hypermobile and painful.Traditional approaches with surgery and anti-inflammatory drugs often fail to stabilize the joint and relieve this pain permanently.Sclerotherapy, with its unique ability to directly address the cause of the instability, can repair the weakened sites and produce new fibrous tissues, resulting in permanent stabilization of the joint.

How does Sclerotherapy work?

With a precise injection of a mild irritant solution directly on the site of the torn or stretched ligament or tendon, sclerotherapy creates a mild, controlled injury that stimulates the body's natural healing mechanisms to lay down new tissue on the weakened area.The mild inflammatory response thatis created by the injection encourages growth of new ligament or tendon fibers, resulting in a tightening of the weakened structure.Additional treatments repeat this process, allowing a gradual buildup of tissue to restore the original strength to the area.

What is the solution that is injected?

The sclerotherapy injections contain anesthetic agents and natural substances, which stimulate the healing response. There are numerous substances which allows the physician to tailors the selection of substance according to the patient's need.

Is the Sclerotherapy/Prolotherapy treatment painful?

Any pain involving an injection will vary according to the structure to be treated, the choice of solution and the skill of the physician administering the injection. The treatment may result in mild swelling and stiffness. The mild discomfort passes fairly rapidly and can be reduced with pain relievers such as Tylenol. Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, should not be used for pain relief because their action suppresses the desired inflammatory process produced by the injection.

What areas of the body can be treated?

This form of therapy can be used to treat dislocation of the joints, knee pain, shoulder pain, Temporal Mandibular Joint dysfunction, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and disc problems at any level of the spine.The therapy affects only the area treated and does not cause any problem in any other area.

How often do I need these treatments?

The treatments should be administered every one, two, or three weeks.

What's the rate of success in treatment?

The anticipated rate of success depends on a number of variables, including the patient's history and ability to heal, and the type of solution used. In patients with low back pain with hypermobility, 85% to 95% of patients treated experience remission of pain with this form of therapy. In comparison, the Journal of Bone and Joint Therapy reports only a 52% improvement in patients treated surgically for disc involvement.