Prolotherapy/
Regenerative Injection Therapy

Your Pain and Prolotherapy’s Answer

For people who suffer from varying combinations of muscle, ligament, joint and disc pain, Proliferant Therapy (Prolotherapy) or Regenerative Injection Therapy (R.I.T.) can be a highly effective treatment.  Prolotherapy, in effect, initiates the body’s intuitive wisdom to restore normal function and healing.

How our Bodies Work

Every joint in the body is held together by a ligament; the connective tissue that holds bone to bone. When ligaments tear (we commonly call this a "sprain") the joint can become unstable, like in a sprained ankle. Another example is when ligaments tear around the vertebrae (i.e. "whiplash" or “cervical sprain”) and the spine becomes unstable. Movement may be limited or muscle spasms may occur as the muscles over-work to compensate for weakness at the site of the injury.

Ligaments have a poor blood supply and don't heal easily. Left to nature, ligament healing is usually complete by six to eight weeks, and certainly by three months. If the ligaments heal back to their normal length and strength, the joint regains stability and is pain-free. However, if healing is incomplete after two or three months, the joint can become unstable resulting in “weak ankles” or “a bad back.” The instability can become persistent, experienced by most people as chronic pain. Ongoing instability can eventually lead to degenerative arthritic changes.

Prolotherapy Stimulates Healing

Prolotherapy or R.I.T. promotes the body's own natural healing ability. Each treatment results in more and more tissue being regenerated. The joints become stabilized and stronger. Pain lessens until, in most cases, it disappears entirely as the body regains its natural functions. Prolotherapy can help whenever ligaments, tendons, cartilage and/or discs are torn or worn. Without surgery or medications, Prolotherapy can relieve pain, increase function, and promote healing.

Prolotherapy: The Treatment Process

If a person gets cut, skin DNA knows how to make skin. What initiates the healing process is blood. Stem cells produce blood platelets. Ligament DNA knows how to make new ligament. Tendon DNA knows how to make new tendon. What starts the healing process is a micro-injury that stimulates the patients own DNA. Then your DNA initiates growth of new ligament, tendon, and muscle.

After injecting Novocain into the skin, a needle is used to tap at the site of the injury and create a bruise. Ligament holds bone-to-bone, so this bruise initiates a healing process to regenerate ligament or tendon attachment. The tapping is done on both sides of the joint and a small amount of Sarapin (an herbal solution) or a high concentration of dextrose (sugar) is injected as part of the prolotherapy process. In this way, the Novocain, needling and the injection of dextrose, microscopically injures ligaments. The body responds to the injury by growing (regenerate) new strong tissue.

What To Expect Following an R.I.T Treatment

Initially, patients often report feelings of soreness and bruising at the sites of the injection. This can last 24-36 hours. Typically, chronic pain decreases because when the joint is swollen, it feels more stable and the muscles that have been in spasm can relax. Days later, some of the former pain may return. The ligament is in a healing cycle and a new plateau of strength and function. Patients are re-examined and, if necessary, another injection is done. At the point when the pain has stopped and full strength and mobility are restored, no more treatments are administered and healing is complete.

Normal day-to-day activities and light exercise following injections are encouraged.

How Effective is Prolotherapy?

Prolotheraphy has been successfully practiced by the U.S. medical community since 1930. Studies measuring and confirming the effectiveness of prolotherapy have been published for more than two decades—beginning in 1987 with the Lancet studies. The Lancet, a respected British medical publication, reported that 35 out of 40 patients in an experimental prolotherapy group showed greater than 50% improvement following regenerative injections. Another study, published in the U.S.'s Journal of Spinal Disorders in 1993, found similar results. For more detailed information regarding research and the effectiveness of prolotherapy, please refer to Physician’s tab for a more complete listing of research in this area.