Prolotherapy—Delray Beach, FL
A Little Sugar CAN Be Medicine
Some types of pain can be incredibly persistent, even if the person is taking the right medication and looking after their physical health. Are you experiencing joint, muscle, or tendon/ligament pain that just won’t go away despite your best efforts? Does it constantly weigh you down day to day? If so, then you might be a good candidate for prolotherapy, a relatively quick and simple treatment that can help deliver the relief you need by enabling your body to heal much faster than it could otherwise.
WHY CHOOSE THE INSTITUTE FOR NON-SURGICAL ORTHOPEDICS FOR PROLOTHERAPY?
- Team with Decades of Experience Treating Joint Pain & Injuries
- All Injections Made with Ultrasound Guidance
- Designed to Work with Your Body to Promote Healing
How Prolotherapy Works
Prolotherapy is an injectable treatment that involves a solution consisting of two parts: dextrose (sugar) and Novocain. The dextrose, when applied to injured tissue, acts as an irritant, which means it creates an acute inflammatory response without causing any actual damage. This catches the body’s attention and makes it think that something is seriously wrong, and this leads to a concentrated and elevated healing response that results in a reduction in pain.
The Novocain, on the other hand, ensures that the patient remains completely comfortable while this is going on. To make sure the solution is placed exactly where it’s needed, the injection is done using ultrasound guidance.
Typically, a patient will require multiple prolotherapy injections spaced a week or so apart. The frequency and number of injections necessary will depend on a few factors, such as how the patient’s body responds to the treatment, the severity of their injury, and their desired recovery timeline.
Conditions Prolotherapy Can Treat
Over the years, the Institute for Non-Surgical Orthopedics has used prolotherapy to treat:
- Neck pain
- Shoulder pain
- Lower back pain
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Ankle pain
- Foot pain
- Tendon injuries
- Ligament injuries
- Small muscle tears
The Advantages of Prolotherapy
Compared to other pain relief methods, prolotherapy offers a few notable advantages:
- Little to No Side Effects: Prolotherapy is an extremely low-risk procedure, and the side effects are minimal, usually consisting of minor bruising or soreness due to the needle itself.
- Can Be Combined with Other Treatments: While prolotherapy is being used to manage someone’s pain, the patient can receive other treatments or engage in exercise in order to speed up their recovery even more.
- Convenient: A normal prolotherapy appointment, after a patient has received a thorough physical exam, takes less than an hour, making it easy for those with busy schedules to get the care they need.
Prolotherapy FAQs
Before they learn about it from our team, many people have never heard of prolotherapy. Therefore, it is only natural if you have lots of questions about it. To help you in your quest to gather information, we have put together a list of some prolotherapy FAQs, along with succinct and easy-to-understand answers. If your specific questions are not addressed here, give our office a call. Our team will be pleased to speak with you.
Why Have I Never Heard of Prolotherapy Before?
Prolotherapy has been around for more than 70 years. Despite that, it is still considered to be a fairly new treatment among mainstream medical practitioners. In fact, just like other effective forms of regenerative medicine, it is not currently taught in the majority of medical schools. Therefore, there are many doctors out there who are either unaware of prolotherapy’s existence or are uneducated about its benefits.
Is Prolotherapy Safe?
Prolotherapy is quite safe. Its main components are dextrose, a type of sugar, and a local anesthetic. Most patients tolerate these ingredients very well. In fact, it is almost unheard for patients to experience a severe negative reaction to prolotherapy injections.
Does Prolotherapy Cause Any Side Effects?
Yes, it is quite common for patients to notice some mild side effects after their prolotherapy injections. For example, you may develop swelling, bruising, and tenderness around the injection sites. Such issues are usually not serious and tend to disappear within a few days (in rare cases, they may stick around for a week or so).
Keep in mind that discomfort at your injection sites can be a very good thing. It can indicate that the treatment is doing its job!
Is Prolotherapy Painful?
Some patients dislike injections, so they may experience some nervousness and discomfort during that portion of that treatment. Plus, it is important to remember that prolotherapy works by causing slight irritation of the tissues in your body. Therefore, some temporary soreness is to be expected.
With that being said, please note that there is no need to worry about severe or debilitating pain resulting from your injections. Most patients find that any discomfort is mild enough that it does not interfere with their daily activities.
How Much Does Prolotherapy Cost?
The price of prolotherapy varies. It depends on the location of the injection sites and other factors. During your consultation, we can give you some specific numbers. Treatments tend to cost at least a few hundred dollars for a single session (up to $500 or more in some cases). Patients usually require multiple sessions to achieve the best possible results.
Medical insurance usually does not cover prolotherapy because it is still considered to be outside the realm of mainstream medicine. If you have concerns about being able to pay for your treatment, let our team know. We will educate you about your options.
