What Is Prolotherapy?

While discussing regenerative medicine, treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cell therapy often come to mind. However, prolotherapy is a similar treatment that uses simple irritants like dextrose to trigger your body’s natural healing response. If you’re struggling with pain and interested in regenerative medicine, prolotherapy is worth looking into. 

At The Spine and Sports Center in Sugarland and Houston, Texas, Dr. Benoy Benny uses several types of regenerative medicine, including prolotherapy, to help boost your body's ability to heal. 

Prolotherapy 101 

Prolotherapy isn’t as common as PRP therapy and stem cell treatments, but many people swear by its efficacy. Like other forms of regenerative medicine, this treatment involves stimulating your body to heal itself. 

Dr. Benny administers prolotherapy by injecting a mild irritant, such as dextrose or saline. The salt or sugar solution prompts an immune response in the area being treated, which can lead to boosted healing. Prolotherapy can treat pain caused by a number of conditions, including: 

• Joint injuries
• Osteoarthritis (OA)
• Fibromyalgia 
• Degenerative disc disease 

Benefits of prolotherapy

Along with relieving pain, we use prolotherapy to reduce stiffness in your joints or spine. This can improve mobility and allow you to resume a more active lifestyle. Gentle exercise and stretching can further strengthen joints and relieve pain, reducing your need for pain relief medications and surgery. 

Prolotherapy is minimally-invasive, and only requires injections into the affected joint or area of the spine. No incisions, scalpels, or stitches are needed. We can also combine prolotherapy with other treatments, and it provides an alternative to traditional pain relief and surgery. 

If prolotherapy doesn’t provide the results you want, you can try other forms of regenerative medicine, such as PRP and stem cell therapy. Surgery and medication can also be considered if these conservative treatments fail to relieve your pain. 

What to expect from treatment 

The prolotherapy process is quite simple: Dr. Benny prepares a special dextrose or saline solution, and injects it directly into the affected area. He also provides a numbing agent, anti-inflammatory medication, and an ice pack if you need it. 

Once you feel ready to leave, you can go home or return to work. Prolotherapy requires no downtime, so you can continue with your day as normal. You can expect some swelling, bruising, and stiffness, but this should subside as your body begins to heal itself. It can take a few injections for prolotherapy to begin working. 

If you’re interested in trying prolotherapy for yourself, get in touch with Dr. Benny and his team to learn more. You can schedule a consultation by calling our location closest to you or booking an appointment online today.