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Prolotherapy for SI joint pain
Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: Mar 4, 2023 | Replies (27)Comment receiving replies
Sue: A few things ... the Mayo citation is no longer ... and the discussion about who can give the treatment does not include the fact that most prolotherapy is done by MDs who are pain specialists. I was not aware that practitioners are actually done by just anyone.
Then there is the question about what is used for prolo ... in most places it is 'sugar' water, but can be other substances. The point though ...it is NOT the substance that matters because the whole idea is that the punctures, not really injections, create the physical signals for the 'self-healing' to begin. The practice is mostly done by Drs who call the practice Regenerative Medicine.
Finally, success depends on several things ... there are different techniques and the patient's response depends on the viability of the patient's own healing system.
I had a wonderful experience after 3+ years and many Drs. who misdiagnosed my hypermobile SIJoint. The 6th Dr's prolotherapy fixed the "lax" ligaments attached to the joint that had become disfunctional from matching the SIJoint's hypermobility, created by a leg length differential. I am hoping there will be definitive studies that will bring prolotherapy out of the shadows where it has been.
Replies to "Sue: A few things ... the Mayo citation is no longer ... and the discussion about..."
Thank you Sue for those comments. My SI hypermobility has been a result of a bad foot surgery which left my right foot totally fused. . . like walking with a brick. The inability to "walk off" my foot, along with a slightly shorter right leg, causes my SI to rotate leaving me with bulging lumbar discs. I'm told that a screw placement now has replaced prolo. But of course, they will not do if you have osteoporosis. There are a few old timers who will do prolo, but do not insist on proper alignment prior to the procedure. And they wonder why they only have 50% success rates. I also am a type 1 diabetic, but have been told that the "sugar water" will not affect my blood sugar levels. Having been in PT for 20+ years, I'm ready to try prolo. Can you recommend a doctor or center with high success rates for complicated patients. I live a few hours from Duke University Hospital, but am having a difficult time finding this "soft tissue" physician my rheumatologist says I need to locate. Also, I was finally told that the asymmetrical yoga positions I practiced to stay limber were also pulling my SI out. Thanks!
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I had pain in my shoulder and the osteo Doctor that I went to wanted me to travel to his home office for prolotherapy treatment. I did not want to travel that far, as I was already driving an hour to the facility, he worked at one day a week. He had a student with him that day and he proceeded to explain to her that he was going to do a manual type of treatment that brings about the same results as prolotherapy. He then took his thumb and pushed it very hard into my shoulder and rotated it around the joint. It was really painful, and he told me not to hold my breath because tears were rolling out of my eyes. I had my shoulder pain for over 6 months and after he did this to my shoulder it improved quickly. Now when I have a joint pain, I go into the joint with a lot of pressure and irritate it and that works really well for me. I have done it to my elbows and knees and it helped. Not sure why irritating a joint works, but he did tell the student that the prolotherapy shot is just sugar and water to irritate the joint.