NUTRITIONAL- SUPPORT SPORTS PROLOTHERAPY
Nutritional Supplements: The Total Program Optimizing the benefits of Prolotherapy through connective tissue proliferation and repair requires providing the body with all the substrates (building blocks) it needs to grow the connective tissue. All athletes should be on an aggressive vitamin, mineral, and supplement program because of the massive amount of connective tissue damage that occurs with each workout, which then needs to be repaired. Athletes may even wish to check their vitamin, mineral, and/or antioxidant levels in the blood.
Exercise itself causes damage to cells, which release free radicals, which then travel throughout the body destroying things and making connective tissue repair less likely. It is imperative that every athlete take the correct amount of antioxidants. Too few antioxidants cause excessive free-radical damage. Too much antioxidant activity will blunt the stimulatory effect exercise has on inducing muscle hypertrophy, strength, or endurance. It is now possible to perform blood tests in the office to see if an athlete's antioxidant status is adequate. Every athlete should be on a complete multivitamin/multimineral complex.
We use various supplements, depending on the athlete's goals and specific athletic events. Here are some general guidelines:
To enhance muscle strength, especially for those athletes who do sprint work or weight-training: Creatine, L-carnitine, pyruvate, American and Siberian ginseng, tribulus terrestris, cayenne, prickly ash, lipoic acid, lutein, and calcium pantothenate.
To replenish electrolytes during workouts: Sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc, preferably in an alkalinizing form such as bicarbonate or citrate.
To enhance speed, especially for runners, swimmers, and other speed sports: Pyruvate, dihydroxyacetone, whey protein, branched-chain amino acids, and adenosine triphosphate.
To enhance connective tissue repair in general: MSM, folate, SAMe, betaine, horsetail, PABA, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A, stinging nettles, proteases, enzymes, bromelain, trypsin, chymotrypsin, bioflavanoids, Panax ginseng, antioxidants, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and gotu kola.
WHAT TYPE OF SUPPLEMENTS CAN YOU TAKE FOR PROLOTHERAPY?
We are fielding hundreds of questions a week from people asking questions about Prolotherapy. One of the top subjects we are asked about is what type of nutritional supplements can be taken with treatments.
There are many supplements that may help promote the healing cascade of Prolotherapy, one which is often over looked is the simple bromelain. Bromelains, in conjunction with Prolotherapy, are a very effective supplement for combating chronic pain.
Bromelains come from the enzymes found naturally in pineapples, whether from the pineapple stem or juice. As a digestive aid , it is remarkably effective in breaking own proteins (so good that Bromelains can even be used as a meat tenderizer).
What Bromelains do is break down fibrin, a blood protein that is involved in clotting and inflammation , and stop the production of kinins, inflammatory hormone compounds. This mean that bromelains may do the following:
*Reduce effects of blunt injuries. Patients experience reduction in swelling, pain and tenderness.
*Assist Rheumatoid arthritis patients with their pain
*Help heal sports injuries, such as sprains, strains and muscle injuries, because of tissue repairing properties.
This is why many of the supplements that we had custom formulated for use with our patients contain healthy amounts of bromelain.
When it comes to assisting your Prolotherapy treatments in healing your chronic pain, high quality bromelain, combined with a unique blend of herbs and nutrients, should not be left out!
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