The body has amazing abilities to repair. The treatment that harnesses these capabilities to treat joint pain, including osteoarthritis, is known as Prolotherapy. “Prolo” comes from the word proliferate. It is a regenerative injection treatment that stimulates the body to repair painful areas. Under the umbrella of Prolotherapy are treatments you may have heard of, including Platelet Rich Plasma and Stem Cell Therapy. While the types of Prolotherapy solutions, as well as the injection treatment techniques, can vary greatly, the goal is the same: stimulate the healing cascade in order to grow new, stronger joint tissue. Regenerative treatments have been helping people for decades, but it is often a new concept for those who have been wrapped up in more traditional pain “management” protocols.
Prolotherapy: a natural, regenerative injection treatment that stimulates the body to repair painful and degenerated joints.
Traditional approaches that “manage” pain
Chances are that if you have chronic pain from arthritis or an injury, you have already tried rest, ice/heat, and over the counter pills on your own. You may have seen a provider for physical therapy, cortisone injections, and prescription painkillers. Maybe some therapies help temporarily, but you are eventually told to live with it until the pain is so bad that you need a joint replacement or fusion. Sound familiar? If you are only seeing insurance-driven medical providers, this is what you should expect. The few options promoted by insurance plans do not treat the underlying cause of chronic pain, rather, they tend to push painkillers and temporary methods to help you live with the various symptoms as the joint continues to degenerate. Often, this leaves a patient with chronic pain to look for better alternatives in order to live a more productive life.
If you want to RESOLVE pain, get to the root cause of it: Joint Instability
Pain is a progressive disorder and indicates there is tissue damage/degeneration. Thus, by doing nothing and just living with pain, or receiving cortisone and taking painkillers, it only worsens the pain and accelerates the degenerative process. (See figure 1.) The process of developing osteoarthritis begins with joint instability, caused by ligament looseness/laxity. This ligament laxity allows too much joint movement and this abnormal movement wears away at the cartilage and other joint tissues. It also produces many other symptoms, such as limited range of motion and joint swelling. (See figure 2.) Therefore, to permanently resolve pain, as well as restore cartilage and joint function, joint stability must be restored.
Prolotherapy works for osteoarthritis because degenerative conditions need regenerative treatments
The injections done during a Prolotherapy treatment are given into and around the weakened or injured area(s) of the body to, in essence, encourage it to “weld” it back together. Traditionally, this therapy utilizes solutions containing the naturally-occurring sugar in the body, d-glucose (dextrose), in combination with additional proliferants, dependent upon the nature and severity of the condition. A serious injury or a severely arthritic joint may benefit from a more advanced form of Prolotherapy using a person’s own platelets and/or stem cells.
Stem Cell Prolotherapy
Not all Cellular Prolotherapy techniques are created equal, nor are the solutions. Many trendy stem cell treatments are not truly living stem cells at all, but old amniotic freeze-dried cells. True Stem Cell Prolotherapy involves taking cells from the patients themselves and immediately using them for treatment. (See figure 3.) Additionally, a comprehensive injection approach is especially helpful for advanced cases, which involves not only treating the inside of the joint but the supportive structures as well (ligaments and tendons). This is an important but often overlooked step in techniques that only give one shot of cells into the joint. Correcting the underlying joint instability is key so that any cells injected into the joint have a better chance of not getting crushed due to the worsening joint instability.
Regenerative Non-surgical Treatments
Versus Surgery
Even most surgeons encourage patients to try conservative therapies before receiving surgery for arthritis. Prolotherapy, with and without stem cells, fits into this category and makes the need for surgery avoidable in the majority of good candidates. The limitations are that Prolotherapy techniques for treating advanced osteoarthritic cases are highly specialized and most patients must travel some distance to a qualified provider, and insurance groups like Medicare have not caught up with covering regenerative procedures. However, for those interested in an effective alternative to surgery in order to stay active and pain-
free, this can provide the ideal option to stop arthritis pain and joint damage.
Regenerative Medicine Specialists
CaringMedical.com
239-303-4546
with locations in Fort Myers and Chicagoland
. Stem Cell Therapy
. Prolotherapy
. Platelet Rich Plasma
Prolotherapy Specialists:
Ross A. Hauser, MD.
Katherine Worsnick, MPAS, PA-C