Is Prolotherapy Painful?

by Sam James ProActive Health Group

What is Prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy is a regenerative injection therapy that harnesses a person’s own innate ability to heal. A combination of dextrose (sugar-water) and a local anesthetic is injected right into the damaged tissue, which stimulates healing and the production of new, healthy tissue. Prolotherapy increases joint stability, ultimately improving function and decreasing pain.

Anti-inflammatory drugs, surgery, and other traditional approaches often fail to stabilize the joint and relieve pain permanently, which makes prolotherapy an excellent alternative option since it addresses the root cause of the issue. Prolotherapy has the unique ability to directly address the cause of instability and repair the weakened sites, resulting in permanent stabilization of the joint. When injected precisely into the site of pain or injury, these techniques create a mild, controlled inflammation which stimulates the body to lay down the new tendon or ligament fibers, resulting in a strengthening of the weakened structure. When the joint becomes stronger, pain is relieved.

Is Prolotherapy Painful?

Prolotherapy is a bit painful during the actual administration of the solution, but because the injected solution contains an anesthetic, numbing will occur quickly. Once the numbing wears off, the area that has been injected is usually tender to the touch for a day or two. It is normal to experience swelling and possibly some bruising after a prolotherapy treatment.

Benefits of Prolotherapy

Prolotherapy is beneficial for many reasons. It is believed to strengthen weakened joints, meaning the pain a patient is in will be reduced. The improved strength of the joint will also help with stability and improve overall movement and function of the back and joints being treated.

Prolotherapy is also an all-natural treatment that relieves the body’s own ability to heal itself. For many reasons, those in Calgary with joint-related pain find prolotherapy to be an excellent alternative treatment to medications and surgery.

Prolotherapy is also a permanent solution to repair joint damage, rather than using medications or other types of treatment that will not effectively treat the root cause of the pain.

In contrast to the benefits of prolotherapy, pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications only provide temporary relief. Similarly, surgical options do not always work to stabilize a joint fully.

What is the Cost of Prolotherapy in SW Calgary?

Since each patient has different needs, the cost of prolotherapy can fluctuate, but here is a baseline of the cost of Prolotherapy in SW Calgary, when the injections are completed by a naturopathic doctor:

The initial visit and injection are $180. Each subsequent follow up appointment is $145 each.

Though treatments can range from needing 2-10 prolotherapy injections, the most common course of treatment is 4-6 injections.

The initial visit and first follow up are scheduled within 1 week of each other, with the remaining injections required being administered 2 weeks apart.

When you receive prolotherapy injections in SW Calgary from a naturopathic doctor, they can often be covered on the naturopathic section in your extended health care. Prolotherapy can also be claimed through a health care spending account.

If you receive these treatments from a medical doctor, there is often ultrasound guidance used during the injections which can raise the cost per injection to $250-$600 each. Any prolotherapy treatment completed by a medical doctor is not covered by extended health care plans and will be out of pocket costs.

Though prolotherapy can have a little bit of initial pain, it is an excellent option to rebuild tissues, strengthen joints, and ultimately relieve pain. Most patients find that the slight discomfort during the injection is well worth the long term pain relief that they experience after a few treatments.