Stiff joints can be a real pain—reducing your range of motion, limiting your activity, and making you wince with any sudden movement. Pain not only prevents our full enjoyment of physical activities, but it can also contribute to weight gain, obesity, and mental health issues when it restricts our ability to move or exercise. Discover how to naturally treat joint pain, with an impressive new injection therapy, known as Prolotherapy. The good news is, prolotherapy is a natural and effective treatment that works with your body’s natural healing process to strengthen joints that have become weakened by injury or wear n’ tear. Traditional approaches with surgery and anti-inflammatory drugs can fail to stabilize the joint and relieve this pain permanently. Prolotherapy uses the body's natural healing ability to relieve chronic pain, strengthen injured tissues and restore function by repairing the weakened sites and produce new fibrous tissues, resulting in permanent stabilization of the joint. Healthy patients can see significant improvement in symptoms without the need for dangerous medications or surgery.
How does Prolotherapy work?
With a precise injection of a mild irritant solution directly into the site of the torn or stretched ligament or tendon, prolotherapy 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 that is created by the injection encourages growth of new ligament or tendon fibres, resulting in a tightening of the weakened structure. Additional treatments repeat this process, allowing a gradual build-up of tissue to restore the original strength to the area. It may take several injections spaced at 3 to 6 week intervals to achieve an optimal result. Commonly treated areas include:
Knees
Hips
Shoulders
Wrist and hands
Prolotherapy may benefit people with:
Chronic ligament and tendon injuries, pains, sprains or strains
Chronic back pain or neck pain
Joint pain caused by osteoarthritis or arthritis
Bursitis
Weakness and instability that lasts for more than six weeks and is tied to muscle or joint pain
Degenerative knee cartilage
Frozen shoulder and rotator cuff injuries
Chronic elbow tendonosis (tennis elbow)
People who take pain-reducing medications frequently (including Advil, aspirin, ibuprofen, oral steroids) but don’t feel their condition is getting better
Those who fail to feel better after having corrective surgery
People who have tried physical therapy but still experience pain and stiffness
Anyone having trouble exercising, sleeping or moving normally without experiencing joint pain and limitations
While many options exist for pain relief, selecting an alternative modality such as prolotherapy can provide long-lasting and safe pain management. Prolotherapy has been shown to help repair tendon injuries, treat chronic joint pain, and regain overall function and movement. Choosing a licensed prolotherapy practitioner may be the key to a pain-free, healthier life. Please consult your health care provider for more information and to determine if prolotherapy is right for you.