Prolotherapy is a type of regenerative medicine that uses your body’s repairing capabilities to help heal injured tissues. Steven Barrick, DO, of Barrick Family Practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an expert in using regenerative medicine techniques like prolotherapy to treat a variety of painful musculoskeletal conditions. Call Barrick Family Practice today to find out more about the benefits of prolotherapy or schedule an appointment online.
request an appointmentWhat is prolotherapy?
Prolotherapy is a form of regenerative medicine like stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Regenerative medicine therapies use your body’s natural healing cells to stimulate the growth of new, healthy tissues.
With prolotherapy, the stimulus for healing comes from an injection of a mild irritant into the affected tissues.
Prolotherapy is short for proliferation therapy and may also be called regenerative injection therapy or non-surgical ligament and tendon reconstruction. Regenerative medicine techniques are a rapidly growing field in medicine, but prolotherapy is one of the original forms.
An osteopathic surgeon called Dr. Earl Gedney discovered prolotherapy in the 1930s. He used the technique to treat a severe hand injury with considerable success.
How does prolotherapy work?
Prolotherapy works by promoting inflammation in injured tissues. Inflammation is your body’s response to injury and acts as a signal that brings in healing cells to repair the damage.
If the inflammation subsides before the area fully heals, you might still have pain and loss of function or reduced range of movement. By creating new inflammation, prolotherapy triggers a fresh round of healing that completes the job more effectively.
Dr. Barrick uses a solution of dextrose in his prolotherapy injections. He also carries out platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prolotherapy.
What does prolotherapy treatment involve?
Your complete prolotherapy treatment session takes about 30 minutes. First, Dr. Barrick gives you an injection of a local anesthetic to numb the treatment area.
He then injects the dextrose or platelet-rich plasma prolotherapy, using ultrasound imaging to ensure the treatment reaches precisely the right place.
After your injection, you need to rest for 10 or 15 minutes with heat packs over the treatment site. Afterward, you can go home.
You might have some stiffness and swelling after your prolotherapy treatment, but it should be mild. Within a week at most, any after-effects should have gone.
How many prolotherapy treatments will I need?
Dr. Barrick can advise you on how many prolotherapy treatments to have. A typical schedule might be one session a week for 4-5 weeks. Once your body’s had the chance to create new, healthy tissues, you should feel the benefit of your prolotherapy treatment.
Find out more about prolotherapy and how it could help you by calling Barrick Family Practice today or booking an appointment online.