Who Is a Good Candidate for Prolotherapy?

What is prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy is an alternative treatment option to reduce muscle or joint pain. Prolotherapy injections, also known as regenerative injection therapy, stimulate the body’s tissue to naturally repair itself. It involves a series of injections containing a solution that is administered through a small needle into the painful tendon, ligament, joint or muscle.

Who is a good candidate for prolotherapy injections

Prolotherapy injections may reduce joint pain and stiffness and increase the strength of ligaments and tissue. They may also improve joint strength, mobility, and functionality. The following factors are good indicators that prolotherapy injections may be a beneficial treatment option:

• Tendon, muscle, or ligament injury
• Arthritis in the knees, hips, or fingers
• Chronic low back pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Degenerative disc disease (DDD)
• Fibromyalgia
• Sports injuries
• Osgood-Schlatter disease
• Certain headaches
• Sprains or strains
• Unstable joints

Who should avoid prolotherapy

Individuals who have certain health issues should avoid prolotherapy, which include the following:

• Septic arthritis
• Gout or pseudogout
• Cellulitis
• Abscess
• Fracture

Currently, controversy exists over how prolotherapy works and its effectiveness as a treatment option. A combination of spinal manipulation and prolotherapy injections may be better at treating back pain than prolotherapy injections alone.