The last thing that any runner wants to hear is that they have an injury that will prevent them from running or prevent them from running pain free. There are a myriad of running and over use injuries and a wide variety of treatments for them. Prolotherapy has recently gained popularity with injured athletes. I recently tried it myself for a nagging hip injury and I thought I would share my experience. Prolotherapy: What is it? How can it help?
What is Prolotherapy?
Dextrose Prolotherapy is a non surgical injection based alternative therapy that uses ultrasound to guide its delivery. A non toxic irritant like Dextrose is injected into the fascia to trigger and stimulate the body’s natural healing process. “It is based on the fact that when ligaments or tendons (connective tissue) are stretched or torn, the joint they are holding destabilizes and can become painful.” (source) The actual solution is a combination of lidocaine, sugar and sterile water.
How does it work?
Guided by ultrasound, Prolotherapy is injected into the healthy tissue to stimulate the body’s natural healing response and target the inflammation. It is considered a safe alternative to pain medications and steroid injections. Prolotherapy can be used on musculoskeletal injuries in tendons, ligaments, muscles and cartilage.
Does it hurt?
I had an injection last week into my hip flexor and SI joint area. While it feels a little odd and uncomfortable for a few minutes, it does not hurt. Post treatment the area felt a little “lazy” and sore for about 24 hours. I was instructed to rest for 24 hours and just do some light walking. I followed Dr’s orders and by day 2 I was feeling back to normal. Day 3 I was cycling. I was instructed to refrain from running for a week.
Important things to note
With any treatment, it is important to know who is performing it and what their experience is. I chose to have my treatment done by an Orthopedist (a medical Doctor). Most insurance companies consider this experimental and may not cover the cost.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is often done in conjunction with, or as a precursor to, Prolotherapy to work on strengthening the muscles. See here for success rates and further info.
Most often, Prolotherapy injections need to be repeated 3-4 times (about 4 weeks apart) for maximal results.I plan to get another series in about 4 weeks. This week, I will be slowly returning to running and I have my fingers crossed that I will be pain free. For me, I don’t see any downside to trying Prolotherapy.
Tell me-Have you ever had Prolotherapy or any other alternative pain treatments? Did it help your running injury? any questions for me?
Welcome to our new co-host Laura!
Thanks for helping to make the Runners’ Roundup a huge success by visiting all of the hosts: Laura, Me, Debbie, Jen , Lisa
I really hope this helps you! I don’t think I’ve heard much about this before. It sounds promising!
Thanks I hope so too!
Interesting! I didn’t realize the injection included lidocaine. I hope it works for you.
Thanks it’s feeling good right now going to run again tomorrow
I’ve heard of some runners finding tremendous relief from prolotherapy. I hope it helps you!
Thanks me too fingers crossed
I’ve never heard of Prolotherapy but it sounds like an interesting option! When I first saw the title, I was surprised that you were exercising so soon after since I’d picture being sore for a while. Hopefully this helps your nagging pain
I really was not sore for more than a day. I hope it helps too
Very interesting…hope it works!
I had a cortisone shot in my foot and it did nothing. I had three b12 shots in my foot but each one worked less.
Right now I am pain-free!!
I am glad that you are finally pain free!
I’ll be curious how this goes! It’s amazing how the medical industry can find alternative treatments, such as this, for healing. Good luck !!!
Yes it sure is! I hope it works
Ah, thanks for explaining this, Deborah. The US is often ahead of Europe with treatment methods. I’m seeing my PT next Monday, I will ask him whether he knows if this is available in Switzerland.
Yes let me know. Apparently it’s been around for a while
Prolotherapy sounds interesting. Much better than having to get cortisone shots. I hope that it works for you! Are you getting PT too? It seems like for good results you’d need to work on the cause of the problem too.
Well the cause is that my running form is not great. I seem to keep having the same problems over and over again
How interesting! I hope this works for you. I’ve never heard of it but seems like a good option.
I am starting to feel a lot better thanks
I actually considered prolotherapy when I was having issues with chronic stress fractures. Luckily they’ve since healed, but it seems like a great option for injured runners!
Glad to hear that you have healed from that
I’d not heard of Prolotherapy injections them until you told me that you’d gotten it. Here’s hoping you get good results!
Thanks so far I am feeling a lot better
This is the first time ive heard of this! I hope it brings relief and you can get back to everything you love, pain free!
Thanks I hope so too!
I’ve never heard of it till I read your post. I hope it works for you. Keep us posted on the followup ones.
I’ve had a cortisone shot on my foot because of a bunion. It definitely provided relief and felt so much better afterwards. It doesn’t bother me anymore so that I a good thing.
Thank you for linking up with us!
Thanks fingers crossed it does the trick
This is definitely a treatment I was not familiar with. Thanks so much for sharing! I hope it’s a complete success for you!
Thanks Andrea hope it does the trick!
Very interesting! I had never heard of this therapy. I can’t wait to see how it works for you!
So far it’s going well fingers crossed for a slow return to running
Thank you for sharing Deborah and I look forward to hearing more about your experience! I’m trying Shockwave Therapy on my Achilles, which is a similar idea, stimulate healing on the tendon, but with ‘shocks’ from this anvil-type machine. Also considered experimental and not covered by insurance, but I’m optimistic about trying it!
I have not heard of this treatment but look forward to hearing how it goes. Hope it helps ease your pain as well