Video Transcription

Often I am asked what is the difference between cortisone injectionsand Prolotherapy injections. Cortisone injections do eliminate pain. Cortisone is an anti-inflammatory, where Prolotherapy actually induces inflammation. The body actually heals by inflammation. Athletes know this, when you work out your muscles get sore and that soreness is from the muscles being inflamed but, that is how the muscles get stronger. Tendons, ligamentsand joints are the same way. If someone has a torn injured or degenerated joint what the joint needs is regeneration. The process by which the body regenerates a degenerated jointis via inflammation. The injection technique that stimulates regeneration is Prolotherapy.

Basically Prolotherapy is the opposite of cortisone. A person should ask himself or herself “why did the doctor say you can only get so many cortisone injections?” Well the issue with cortisone is that cortisone actually accelerates the degenerative process. The primarily method that it probably does it by is you get a cortisone shot in your knee, now all of a sudden the body doesn’t feel any pain. But you know the joint is all degenerated and injured. So, you go work out, you are working out on an injured joint. This causes the joint to further degenerate. That doesn’t happen with Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy will only allow you to go running if the structure has enough strength the tendon has enough strength, the ligament had enough strength. It is not going to give you a false sense of security. So that is another good thing about Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy does the opposite; it has a lot more long term healing effectsthan cortisone. I personally myself wouldn’t get cortisone shot I don’t give my clients cortisone shots unless there is definitely an indication that it needs it, like a herniated discpinching on a nerve. For osteoarthritisor ligament or tendon injury a person needs Prolotherapy, not cortisone.