Prolotherapy is also known as proliferative Injection therapy, proliferation therapy, regenerative injection therapy, and nonsurgical ligament reconstruction. The treatment causes the proliferation, or growth and formation of new cells in the ligament tissue, in areas where it has become weak. It does this by causing localized inflammation, which increases the blood supply, and stimulates the tissue to repair itself. An irritant solution that may be corn or dextrose based is injected into multiple pain areas where ligaments or tendons attach to the bone or into joint capsules. Ultimately, the treatments are supposed to alleviate musculoskeletal pain and increase mobility by strengthening the connective tissue.

A prolotherapy treatment consists of multiple injections into the painful area during the appointment. For example, to treat the bursitis in my hips the doctor inserted the needle into each hip four times releasing the “prolo” solution each time. To treat my lower back pain he did 16 injections. While each injection isn’t any more painful than a flu shot, you can feel the needle hit the bone each time. Prior to trying prolotherapy the doctor tried corticosteroid injections into my hips to break up the bursitis. These injections caused intense pain for several days with no relief afterwards from the bursitis.

A pain area will probably require additional prolotherapy treatments before relief from chronic pain is found. Because each person heals differently, an exact number of treatments cannot be estimated. However, the average number of treatments for each pain area is four to six. Treatments are usually given every two to six weeks until relief is found.

Some research indicates that prolotherapy injections are more effective in alleviating chronic pain when used concurrently with other treatments such as chiropractic manipulation, exercise, and physical therapy.

Prolotherapy injections may help give relief for several types of musculoskeletal pain. Treatments have helped with arthritis, back pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, unresolved whiplash injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic tendonitis, partially torn tendons, ligaments and cartilage, degenerated or herniated discs, TMJ, and sciatica.


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