Doctors have treated back and joint pain with prolotherapy shots since the first half of the 20th century, but the practice is still controversial. Practitioners inject ligaments with compounds such as lidocaine and dextrose to deliberately inflame specific painful areas, operating on the theory that inflammation is necessary for the healing process. Doctors sometimes recommend exercise and massage as complementary treatments to prolotherapy.
History
Early experiments in prolotherapy began in the 1930s. Dr. Earl Gedney reported he had successfully treated painful joints by injecting the ligaments in the June 1937 issue of "The Osteopathic Profession." Dr. George S. Hackett began studying ligament and tendon relaxation as the source of back pain in 1939. Over the next 19 years, Hackett administered more than 18,000 prolotherapy shots. He reported an 82 percent success rate in curing pain. Other doctors carried on their research, but it is still a field with a limited number of practitioners.
Athletes and Prolotherapy
Sports injuries are good candidates for prolotherapy, according to Dr. Ross Hauser, author of "Prolo Your Pain Away." Many of his successfully treated injuries, such as knee strains, ankle sprains, tennis elbow and rotator cuff tears, are common among both dedicated athletes and more amateur exercisers. Hauser says athletes are better off getting prolotherapy for their injuries than the more commonly administered cortisone injections.
Exercise While Receiving Prolotherapy
You should keep your exercise light for a few days after receiving a prolotherapy shot, according to naturopath Jason Barker. Hauser says athletes can resume their regular training as soon as they like, but should stop if they feel pain. To protect against back pain, Hauser emphasizes the importance of keeping the core muscles engaged if you're practicing yoga, weightlifting or Pilates. He also recommends doing plank pose, where you support your weight on your hands while keeping the arms and body straight, to build core strength.
Comparison with Other Treatments
Treatments for chronic pain range from physical therapy to surgery. When the least invasive treatments, such as simple exercises, fail, Hauser emphasizes that prolotherapy is a safer option than anti-inflammatory pills or cortisone shots. He says the body heals by inflammation. Cortisone halts this repair process along with the pain. With symptoms masked, the person is apt to believe himself healed, and overdo things. Professional athletes often fall prey to this, Hauser says, and injure themselves far worse.
Literature Review of Prolotherapy Studies
Researchers S. Dagenais, M.J. Yelland, C. Del Mar and M.L. Schoene published the results of their literature review in the 2007 edition of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. They reviewed five studies examining how 366 total patients responded to prolotherapy injections for low-back pain. Three of these studies discounted prolotherapy as effective. The other two found that prolotherapy shots could be useful when combined with exercises and spinal manipulations. The researchers concluded that they lacked enough data to determine the usefulness of prolotherapy.
