Springfield Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Institute

Pain Management - Prolotherapy

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Introduction

Prolotherapy is an alternative treatment for weakened or injured ligaments and tendons.  Ligaments are strong tissues that connect bones to bones.  They do not have an excellent blood supply, but they have many nerves that can cause pain, if injured.  Tendons are strong tissues that hold muscles to bone.  Tendons and ligaments that are weak or injured sometimes do not heal back to their full strength.
 
Prolotherapy involves injecting a joint capsule, tendon, or ligament with an irritant solution.  The solution causes a localized inflammation, which results in an increase in blood supply to the area.  The increased blood supply stimulates cell growth and tissue repair.  Prolotherapy treatment may promote tendon and ligament healing, pain relief, and function.
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Treatment

Your doctor can administer Prolotherapy treatments in his or her office.  Your doctor will inject your affected areas.  People typically require several treatments.  Prolotherapy is considered an experimental treatment in the United States. 
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This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your health care professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment.

The iHealthSpot patient education library was written collaboratively by the iHealthSpot editorial team which includes Senior Medical Authors Dr. Mary Car-Blanchard, OTD/OTR/L and Valerie K. Clark, and the following editorial advisors: Steve Meadows, MD, Ernie F. Soto, DDS, Ronald J. Glatzer, MD, Jonathan Rosenberg, MD, Christopher M. Nolte, MD, David Applebaum, MD, Jonathan M. Tarrash, MD, and Paula Soto, RN/BSN. This content complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information. The library commenced development on September 1, 2005 with the latest update/addition on February 16, 2022. For information on iHealthSpot’s other services including medical website design, visit www.iHealthSpot.com.