Prolotherapy for SI joint pain

@sandyincharlotte, my kid also has type 1 and long term SI joint issues, due to subluxation. She did PT all during college and for a total of 10 years. Prolotherapy helped her miraculously but NOT the sugar/dextrose one.

In the practice she used, dextrose is tried first, then PRP, platelet rich plasma. Due to her type 1, they skipped the dextrose trial and went directly to PRP. So I would ask for that.

Dr. Borg-Stein at Newton-Wellesley in MA is doing a lot of studies and could refer you perhaps.

When my SI shifts, the torque causes deep trigger points in my deep glut muscles. Physical therapists can now do "dry needling" where they stick a needle deep into that muscle and hits the nerve in the muscle. When they hit that trigger point, it feels like you're being electricuted, but the muscle then relaxes. It has been the only way to release deep trigger points for me.

Is this the person who gave the PRP shot? I'm in my early 30s and my case sounds similar to your daughter's. I'm in the area.

@sameerak yes it was Dr. Borg-Stein. Used to be at Wellesley Spaulding but now at Newton-Wellesley and part of the MGH-Brigham system. Good luck!

I had an excellent response to Prolotherapy. My SI Joint was causing lots of trouble after a hip operation left one leg shorter than the other. The prolotherapy treatment worked on the ligament connected to the SI Joint that had become "lax", or overstretched, and could not support the hEDS joint as it normally would. The treatment activates your body to fix itself and in my case this particular fix took 10 days before the ligament tightened itself in the middle of the night, like a rubber band snapping back.
So, prolotherapy fixes ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues but not the joint itself. My SI Joint still moves a bit too far, but a knee to the chest and keeping the connective muscles in good shape and not overly tight. My Doctor did say that I might need a repeat after 5-10 years. It has been over 5. I have also heard that a fix on the first round is a bit unusual.
Due to a second hip operation, this one gone bad, my SI Joint was taxed again. This time, as I wasn't walking much, the damage went up the spine, loosening all the joints. My cervical joints became loose enough to cause issues. Another prolotherapy treatment tightened the ligaments that are actually part of those cervical joints and the blood flood to my brain is protected. For these joints a chin to the neck, pulled up like a castle guard works to do small readjustments.
I really believe I would not be walking around today without protherapy and am so glad to see Mayo include treatments in their wheelhouse.

Hood to hear! Heard such good things about prolotherapy but mine didn’t. I too have multiple EDS and both hip replaced and revised.

And sorry to hear! You might try another practitioner if you still hurt. I do understand that there are different techniques. My Dr. trained in Denver with the Regenerative Medicine clinic there. He works at a Spin and Pain Center of which there are several spread around the Mid-Atlantic and DC.

Did this cause more pain?

Can you please share with me the name of that practitioner at mass general that does the prp prolotherapy?

And am I understanding correctly- your daughter has complete success after ONE treatment with the prp injections? That is amazing and def sounds like that doctor knows what he or she is doing in regards to where exactly needs to be injected when the si joint problem is stemming from instability (or hupermobility) as opposed to pure sacroiliitis pain!

This has been my struggle- finding a doctor who understand precisely which ligaments to target with the prolo prp or stem cell injections , as my si joint dysfunction is purely ligamentous laxity and I know I will only be "fixed" if I can find a doctor who understand this too. Because I have already had the injections but none of the doctors I've been able to find r able to precisely target the injection spots for ligament laxity specifically. They all want to tell me they need only inject in or around the si joints for their injections to be able to help, but I know from extensive reading & research, and now my own personal experience, that this is not true in the cases like me where source of the si dysfunction is instability.

I pray you see this somehow and are able to reply to me! You are the first person I've encountered to state outright that your cervical instability came from your pelvis instability having "traveled up the spine" so to say. This is precisely what has happened to me and I'm astounded at the number of professionals that don't seem to grasp the concept. my si joints are unstable and out of alignment. It's been a chronic problem for years now; as time went on, the rest of my spine attempted to counteract what was happening at the usually strong base (the si joints) by developing its own rotational curves all the way up the entire kinetic chain, to the point where I developed craniocervical instability and now I have atlantoaxial instability- rotatory dislocation/subluxation!

Anyway, I have been searching and searching for prolotherapy injections to be done by a doctor or practitioner who gets this concept. I cannot seem to find anyone! I've had prolo, prp, and stem cells but in each case the doctor would only inject into or around my si joints. It was clear that each doctor I saw and had injections from, did not have an understanding of ligamentous laxity as the cause of the si joint instability. I am searching for a doctor who does understand this, and who will know which ligaments to target with injections and where precisely.

I am in the US and willing to travel because I am going to have to go thru with si joint fusion surgery otherwise. If I can locate a doctor to do prolotherapy injections on me properly (sounds like your doctor does!) then I believe I have a great chance at being able to heal without having to go through the surgery. However I cannot continue keeping my entire life on hold any longer, so this comment of mine to you is part of my last ditch effort to find that ideal injecting doctor that I so desperately need, asap, before I would resort to the surgery that I've been approved for and can do "at any time" with my awesome surgeon at Mayo.... surgeon is Dr. William cross III, just for others' reference in case anyone reading needs the name of a great si joint surgeon, I recommend. And I've consulted with many. He's top notch.

Would appreciate anyone's input or answer to my comment here if anyone seeing this knows a doctor who does prolotherapy injection treatments specifically for si joint instability stemming from ligament laxity. Thanks so much in advance!!!