Prolotherapy for Pain
The pain relieving technique called prolotherapy has been around since the 1930s. For folks with chronic pain - an injection “tricks” the body into thinking an area is injured.
“Prolotherapy is injection of an irritant solution, in this case hyperosmolar dextrose, which is essentially sugar water, into the body where there is damaged tissue,” says Dr. Christopher Dawson, a pain management specialist on the Lee Memorial Health System medical staff.
Prolotherapy promotes long-term, often permanent pain relief by stimulating the body’s ability to repair itself. The injected solution – or irritant - fools your body into thinking it needs to start healing. Research shows more than 80% of patients treated with prolotherapy report a good or excellent result.
“By injecting this irritant solution, that causes an inflammatory reaction in the body, the body views that as inflammation and the body heals the inflammation and decreases the inflammation and heals the injured tissue,” says Dr. Dawson.
Prolotherapy injection therapy has proven successful for treating common chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions including osteoarthritis. Carrie Blair underwent prolotherapy for her lower back pain.
“I woke and it was gone. I couldn't believe it I said ‘oh my god I can’t believe this’,” says Blair.
“She’s now able to enjoy many of her recreational activities that she once did before such as gardening and shopping. She’s also, fortunately, not having to take any pain medication,” says Dr. Dawson.
Prolotherapy is considered a viable alternative to surgery, pain medications and anti-inflammatory injections.
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Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.
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