What is Prolotherapy ?

Prolotherapy has been in use for over 80 years, but the current indications and protocols for treatment were written by Dr. George Hackett during the 1950’s. Dr. Hackett discovered that injecting a solution that encourages cell renewal into the ligament fibers, stimulates the production of fibrous tissue and thus leads to the strengthening and tightening of the ligaments. Over the years, Dr. Hackett discovered that the method works the same way for tendons, muscles, joints and connective tissues in joint cavities. Prolotherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for patients suffering from articular instability due to ligament damage, overloading, musculoskeletal inflammation, painful and degenerate tendons and associated osteoarthritis. 

Prolotherapy is a non-surgical regenerative injection method of a solution that encourages the body’s self-healing ability in the treated area, which will lead to repair and regrowth of connective tissue, ligaments, tendons, muscles and joints. 

Prolotherapy uses the same process that the human body does naturally, stimulating the body’s healing system, manifested in response to a process called inflammation. When the body develops an inflammatory process, it actually “calls” the blood cells to come and heal the injured area. The prolotherapy method involves injecting a solution into the connective tissues, which causes an inflammatory response that activates the healing process, and then, encourages the growth of connective tissue. The ligaments and tendons that build up after prolotherapy look identical to normal tissues, except that they are thicker, stronger and contain fibers of different thickness, indicating new and continuous tissue formation. 

Medical studies have shown that prolotherapy is an effective, reliable and cost-effective alternative to surgical treatments. Based on extensive research and clinical results, prolotherapy can be preferable to many other treatments for relieving chronic joint and spinal pain, recurrent dislocations, chronic inflammation of joints and connective tissues, tearing/stretching of ligaments, tendons and muscles, and especially in returning people to a happy and active lifestyle.