Prolotherapy is a procedure used for the treatment of various ligament joint injuries. It involves injecting an irritant solution into the affected area, thereby beginning ligament repair.
It is essential to understand that it is not a surgical procedure but rather a minimally invasive therapy for sports injuries, chronic pain, musculoskeletal pain, etc. Prolotherapy is otherwise known as regenerative joint injection and non-surgical ligament and tendon reconstruction.
Although we commonly use prolotherapy for back problems, we also use it for knee, shoulder, hips, and other body joints treatment.
There are three types of prolotherapy:
Inflammatory prolotherapy – which consists of injecting a mildly inflammatory substance into injured tissues to create an inflammatory reaction and immune response. The substance used for this purpose is dextrose.
Growth factor injection prolotherapy – which consists of injecting specific growth factors into an injured joint. These specific growth factors target muscles, cartilages, or ligaments. We use it for treating muscle and ligament sprains.
Growth factor stimulation prolotherapy – which consists of injecting a substance that stimulates the production of growth factors naturally. We mainly use it to stimulate the growth of connective tissue, skin cells, and red blood cells.
Which prolotherapy type is best for you will be determined based on your problem or injury, physical examination, and imaging.