Joint problems and soft tissue injuries are fairly common. Patients routinely see their doctors for things like ligament strains and joint pain. And sometimes those visits include discussions about non-surgical treatment options.
Wanting to avoid surgery can lead to discussions of various regenerative and interventional treatments. Among them is prolotherapy. While prolotherapy can play a role as a complementary treatment, patients should understand its place in modern medicine. It is by no means curative.
Prolotherapy Is an Elective Treatment
The first thing to understand is that prolotherapy is considered an elective treatment rather than a required course of action. In terms of its mechanism, the therapy is an injection-based treatment designed to target connective tissues like ligaments and tendons. How are the tissues targeted? By irritating them.
As strange as it sounds, prolotherapy involves injecting a mild irritant solution directly into the affected joint or soft tissue site. The irritant is usually a combination of concentrated dextrose and a local anesthetic. But why irritate an already painful site? To create inflammation.
Doctors traditionally attempt to reduce inflammation in order to reduce pain. But as the specialists at Lone Star Pain Medicine in Weatherford, TX, explain, inflammation is a natural mechanism that tells the body there is an injury in need of repair. Prolotherapy intentionally encourages it to trigger the body’s natural repair response.
Prolotherapy Is Not a Medical Necessity
Patients should understand that prolotherapy is never a medical necessity. It is considered an elective procedure. Why does that matter? Because insurance carriers rarely cover elective procedures. They only cover what is medically necessary.
Within the realm of interventional pain management, medically necessary procedures are those that are essential for diagnosing, preventing, or directly addressing the source of a patient’s problem. Elective procedures are more discretionary. They are intended as complements to what are accepted as traditional treatments.
Effectiveness: The Jury Is Still Out
One of the reasons that prolotherapy remains an elective procedure, despite so many people trying it, is the fact that the jury is still out on its effectiveness. Clinical studies reveal a mixed bag of results. Some studies show that it does help relieve certain types of pain, while others say it either does not work at all or relieves pain through the placebo effect.
Prolotherapy definitely does not rebuild torn soft tissue. It doesn’t eliminate the underlying biomechanical problems that cause joint pain. For those for whom it seems to work, its benefits are complementary rather than curative.
How It Fits Into a Comprehensive Treatment Plan
None of this is to say that prolotherapy is quackery and should be avoided at all costs. Quite to the contrary, plenty of people swear by its ability to relieve their pain. The bigger question is how prolotherapy fits into a comprehensive treatment plan. Lone Star specialists recommend utilizing it alongside other foundational interventions:
- Physical Therapy – Strengthening muscles, tendons, and ligaments almost always helps relieve pain. Long-term physical therapy can do wonders for how a patient feels.
- Ergonomics and Posture – Making basic modifications to ergonomics and posture can help correct daily biomechanical stress. Pain relief is usually the result.
- Interventional Diagnostics – Interventional diagnostics are a good idea before prolotherapy injections begin. Targeted diagnostics help doctors identify the source of a patient’s pain.
- Lifestyle Management – Simple changes to a person’s lifestyle can go a long way toward long-term relief. Lifestyle changes should always be considered alongside prolotherapy.
Prolotherapy has its supporters and detractors. Regardless of mainstream medicine’s opinion, it is a therapy being recommended more often by pain management doctors. It might be worth considering in your case.