Prolotherapy 101: How Injections Help Your Body Heal Itself

Most pain treatments work by blocking signals — cortisone injections suppress inflammation, NSAIDs inhibit pain enzymes, nerve blocks numb sensation. These approaches can provide real relief, but they don't address why the tissue is painful in the first place. Prolotherapy takes a different approach.

What is prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy (short for proliferative therapy) is an injection-based treatment that stimulates your body's natural healing response. A solution — typically dextrose (a simple sugar) combined with a local anesthetic — is injected into the damaged or painful area. This triggers a controlled local inflammatory response, which signals the body to send in repair cells and begin rebuilding the damaged tissue.

It's counterintuitive: deliberately triggering inflammation to heal. But inflammation is the body's first step in healing. Chronic pain often persists precisely because that healing response was never adequately completed. Prolotherapy restarts the process.

The four-step healing sequence

1. Injection — The dextrose solution is introduced into the target area (a joint, ligament, tendon, or trigger point).
2. Inflammatory response — The mild irritant triggers localized inflammation, signaling tissue damage that needs repair.
3. Healing activation — Blood flow increases to the area; repair cells, platelets, and growth factors flood in.
4. Tissue growth — Over weeks to months, the body lays down new collagen and healthy tissue in place of the damaged structures.

What conditions does prolotherapy treat?

Prolotherapy works well for conditions involving weakened or damaged connective tissue — ligaments, tendons, and cartilage that haven't responded to rest, physical therapy, or anti-inflammatory treatment. Common conditions include:

• Rotator cuff tendinopathy
• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis)
• Plantar fasciitis
• Knee osteoarthritis
• Sacroiliac joint pain
• Ankle instability
• Low back ligament pain
• Chronic soft tissue injuries

How does prolotherapy compare to PRP and cortisone?

All three treat pain differently. Cortisone suppresses inflammation temporarily — useful for acute flares but not curative, and with potential downsides for long-term tissue health. Prolotherapy stimulates healing through a mild irritant. PRP stimulates healing through growth factors from your own blood. Research shows prolotherapy and PRP offer more lasting healing than cortisone for most structural conditions, though PRP may have an edge for knee osteoarthritis specifically.

At Burns Family Wellness Care, prolotherapy is $200 per joint or soft tissue area per session. Multiple sessions are often needed (typically 3–6), spaced 4–6 weeks apart, with full results developing over 3–6 months.