Your 1st Prolotherapy Visit
Welcome to Caring Medical Florida! We hope that you will find your visit with us a delightful experience that meets, or better, exceeds, your expectations for a Prolotherapy doctor’s office.
Online Health Questionnaire & Initial Health History Phone Appointment
Online new patient questionnaire: Completing the new patient questionnaire will help our team better understand your case to be able to help you. Upon scheduling your initial new patient phone history and consultation appointments, we will email you with the information to securely enter your medical history information through the patient portal. You may access the new patient portal from the following link. If you have trouble completing the packet, please contact us before your scheduled New Patient Phone History appointment.
New patients please login here
Initial phone history appointment: A clinical team member will call you at your scheduled phone consultation time to review your past medical history, medications, current conditions and help answer some initial questions prior to your office visit with the specialist.
Preparing for Your Visit
Pain medications: If you are taking anti-inflammatory medications such as Motrin, Advil, Aleve, or Celebrex, or narcotic medications such as Vicodin, MS Contin, Morphine, Percocet, etc. it would be best to stop taking them 2-7 days prior to your first visit. They interfere with the healing process with Prolotherapy. If you have been taking narcotic medications long term, you should discontinue them only under the guidance of a physician.
Test Results: if you have MRI, X-ray, or other pertinent lab reports, please bring them with you for your appointment.
Eat prior to coming in! If you are planning to get Prolotherapy, you must eat beforehand. If you have a morning appointment, please eat a good breakfast before coming in, ideally with some protein. If you have an afternoon appointment, you should have had breakfast and lunch before coming in.
While at Caring Medical Florida
Arrival and Paperwork: Arriving on time will help make your appointment run smoothly. If you experience an unavoidable delay, such as a delayed flight, please notify the office so that we can determine if we can alter the schedule to accommodate your needs. If you are stuck in traffic, please call our office to see if we can help you navigate a better route.
Our reception team will welcome you to the practice, take your photo for your electronic medical chart, acquaint you with the office, and get you started with a bit of initial paperwork/progress reports. At each Prolotherapy visit, we need to know how our patients are progressing through the series and will ask you to fill out how you are feeling for each area you have treated. The goal of these patient progress notes is to better understand and assess your current status and how you progress through the treatment series. (Yes, we are on this healing journey with you! Prolotherapy typically requires 3-6 treatments, depending on the severity of the case. This will be determined during the exam.)
Treatment
Medical history: A nurse or clinical assistant will obtain a detailed medical history, review your new patient packet, and obtain vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and weight. He/she can help answer some of your initial questions and will be with you through the whole visit. He/she will take notes for you, and review all of the information and instructions from the practitioner after your exam.
Patient visit: The physician/PA will review your medical history and do a physical exam to assess the painful areas and overall joint function. He/she will then talk with you in more detail about an ideal treatment plan. If the practitioner feels you are a good candidate for Prolotherapy, treatment can be done that same day. Most patients come here because we are a treating clinic, not just a consulting or diagnosing clinic. Thus, we are the ideal fit for patients who want to use Regenerative Medicine treatments to resolve their condition and are active participants in their own recovery. During your visit, other case-specific suggestions may be made, including laboratory tests, nutrition or diet suggestions, supplements, brace or another device, and/or exercises to aid in your rehabilitation.
Imaging: If diagnostic visualization is recommended, such as Digital Motion X-ray or Musculoskeletal Ultrasound, your practitioner can discuss the benefits of those with you, and they will be performed during the visit. For patients with head/neck conditions, a Digital Motion X-ray will most likely be recommended prior to your first treatment, for cervical curve analysis and visualize the extent of cervical instability. In addition, musculoskeletal ultrasound is used, at some point, on most new patients. Ultrasound helps us visualize joint instability and identify certain anatomical structures and the integrity of the tissue. It can be used during the exam, as well as to guide specific injections during treatment, including Prolotherapy and releasing entrapped nerves.
Prolotherapy/Platelet Rich Plasma/Stem Cell Therapy/ NRRIT treatment: Prolotherapy is an injection technique. Yes, the injections can hurt, but they go by quickly. If you are anxious, we have a lot of options that can make the procedure practically painless. Though most people actually do not need any help to get through the treatment because it generally takes only a few minutes.
After treatment: After the treatment, you will rest with some heat packs on the treated area for 10-15 minutes. This helps soothe the treated area and also helps speed the healing through increased circulation. While you rest with heat, the assistant/nurse will review our Post-Prolotherapy Instruction sheet with you. This covers the do’s and don’ts with Prolotherapy.
Nutritional supplementation and therapeutic devices: Your Prolotherapy specialist may have diet recommendations or suggest some nutritional supplements to aid in your healing or overall health. If specific Prolotherapy-related supplements are part of your treatment plan, a high-quality source will be recommended where you can obtain them. If your practitioner recommends a therapeutic device for your condition (such as a cervical collar or rehabilitation exercise equipment), your nurse/assistant can advise you on where to obtain them as well.
Checkout and Follow-up
Payment: After your consultation/treatment, your nurse/assistant will take you back out to the reception area to pay the bill for your visit. Remember, the cost of the New Patient consultation fee was pre-paid upon scheduling your appointment, so you will see that your bill was already credited that amount, along with the CPT and other insurance coding information, should you choose to file a claim for potential reimbursement with your private insurance company. (See our Pricing page, if you would like to review our Prolotherapy costs and other insurance and payment information.)
Follow-up appointment: Before leaving, you can also schedule your next Prolotherapy visit with your clinical assistant, or with any of our administrative team upon checkout. It is a good idea to make your appointment at this time, to ensure you can get the appointment time you want, as the schedule fills up quickly.
Stay Connected
On your post-treatment plan, you will have a list of the recommendations discussed during the visit on how you can help maximize the treatment and your overall rehabilitation efforts. You will also be given the direct contact information for your clinical assistant who was with you during the visit. Our clinical team will contact you after each visit to check-in. We ask that communication with our office be a two-way street. We are always available to you by phone or by email.
As you begin being able to put more stress on the joint(s), and see functional gains, you will have a real-time knowledge of where you are and the progress you are making. Remember, this is a journey! You likely did not develop your condition overnight, and the typical treatment series is about 3-6 sessions, with each treatment building upon the last. We look forward to working with you and helping you succeed for the long-term by using Regenerative Medicine to get you there!
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