Prolotherapy for SI joint pain

Posted by lara2323 @lara2323, Mar 6, 2022

I am considering undergoing prolotherapy for chronic SI joint pain. Unfortunately the practitioner couldn't tell me how long patients had relief.
Has anyone had prolotherapy on their SI joint? If so, how many treatments did you receive and how long did the pain relief last?

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@sandyincharlotte

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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@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.

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@windyshores

There is another type of prolotherapy, PRP or platelet rich plasma. Your blood is taken out in a large syringe, spun to concentrate platelets and then reinjected in the joint (and others if any is left over!). For my daughter's SI joint issues, after years of PT, this worked overnight and lasted 8 years.

You have to meet criteria after screening with imaging to make sure the issue is soft tissue. My daughter has hypermobile joints that "sublux" (move out of place) and tightening things really helped.

Pressing hard on a location with pain tends to ease muscle spasm but not sure how it would address loose ligaments or joints that have shifted slightly . Curious about this. I have learned to press hard on my shoulder to release a muscle there.

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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.

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@windyshores

@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.

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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.

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@sameerak

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.

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@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!

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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.

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

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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.

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