Those of us who are using 'prolo' have busy clinic practices and don't have time to apply for grants and conduct research. However, he says better and more research would enable wider acceptance of the therapy. No guidelines exist for prolotherapy, and treatment protocols vary by physician. Some find prolotherapy useful only for certain conditions, some use it as first-line therapy, and others reserve it for chronic conditions that have not improved with traditional treatments. He's treated patients of all activity levels, from ages 25 to 80.
Patients often require more than one injection.
Patients who have tennis elbow, for example, typically need four to six injections 2 weeks apart. He says that though he's never had a patient's condition worsen after prolotherapy, certain conditions seem to respond particularly well, such as recurrent ankle sprains, sacroiliac instability, and costochondritis. Prolotherapy treatments require intensive patient counseling, Scott says. The injection site is usually swollen and painful for 2 or 3 days after the injection. He advises patients to ice the area three to five times a day for 20 minutes at a time as needed.