Prolotherapy is a non-surgical regenerative procedure using a glucose solution that is injected into affected joints and ligaments. Injection of this solution into the joint and supporting ligaments creates an intentional inflammatory response. This stimulates the body’s natural healing abilities, helping to strengthen ligaments, enhance cartilage and overall increase the stability of joints.
Surgery vs. Regenerative Treatments
Sometimes joints are weakened by trauma or overuse. Ligaments or tendon attachments can be stretched, torn or fragmented and become hypermobile and painful. When this happens, joints can become unstable, allowing bones in the joint to become misaligned, causing pain, muscle spasms, and in many cases, arthritis.
New technologies and research are providing remarkable options for the treatment of orthopedic injuries using regenerative medicine. Research has shown that some surgical procedures can be beneficial in the short term, but ultimately may not provide long-term benefit. While surgery is sometimes the only option for an injury, there are many instances where there are effective alternatives.
How It Works
When you experience an injury, the body responds to try and stimulate healing. The swelling, pain and redness are all related to an inflammatory response. Prolotherapy captures this healing mechanism and by using targeted injections, that inflammatory response can be used to help repair ligament and joint issues. Because of this targeted inflammation, anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen can “turn off” the healing mechanism and should be avoided.
The solution contains a hypertonic glucose solution with small amounts of lidocaine. The exact solution used for your treatment will be tailored to your specific needs. The solution does not contain any steroids like cortisone, which can slow down or stop the healing process. The treatment is generally well tolerated, without any major difficulties. This is an outpatient procedure, and you can expect to spend approximately two hours in our office. If you have a fear of needles or experience generalized anxiety related to procedures, please contact our office.
All procedures are performed by Dr. Maria Hopp who is trained and certified by the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine (AAOM).
Conditions Treated
Prolotherapy can be used to treat pains in a number of different areas of the body. This includes: knee, hip, ankle, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. We also have great success with the treatment of the sacroiliac (SI) joint for low back pain and the metacarpal joints for finger arthritis.
These treatments can be administered every four weeks and many patients find best results with 3-5 treatments. With regenerative treatments at TLC, 75%-85% of patients report improvement in their pain.
Regenerative Treatments at TLC
At TLC, we offer Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), and Bone Marrow Aspirate as non-surgical options for the treatment of orthopedic injuries. One of these treatments is not necessarily better than the other and they operate on a similar mechanism. The primary difference between these procedures is the solution or substance that is injected – with prolotherapy we inject a glucose solution, whereas with other treatments we inject concentrated platelets from your own blood. Deciding which treatment may be best for you can be done after evaluation by Dr. Hopp.
Prolotherapy can help weakened joints get back to their original level of stability, without loss of flexibility or function. Let us help you get back to the active lifestyle you deserve! Call our office at 720-351-2411 to set up an appointment!
