Prolotherapy, also known as prolo therapy, proliferative therapy, or prolo injections, is a non-surgical treatment that is designed to stimulate healing of joints, ligaments, tendons, and soft tissue. Because of this, prolotherapy injections are also commonly referred to as nonsurgical ligament and tendon reconstruction, or regenerative injection therapy. Since prolotherapy has proved to be successful for so many chronic pain injuries, it is no surprise why pain management doctors across the world have made sure to make it an important part of their arsenal.

Here at Purety Family Medical Clinic in Santa Barbara, our prolotherapy doctors specially design all of our prolotherapy injections for each individual patient. We also make it a priority to take our time with all of our patients to make the treatment as minimally painful as possible, and as comprehensive as possible for maximizing healing.

 1.  Prolotherapy Works For Pain Management as a long-term solution because it works by healing and strengthening your tissue.

Prolotherapy works for pain management, pain healing, and tissue restoration because biochemically it stimulates a proliferative effect at the targeted injury site. This occurs because the prolo therapy solution causes a temporary, low-grade inflammation at the injection site and causes secondary growth factor elevation. This then causes fibroblasts in the area to activate. Fibroblast activation synthesizes precursors of mature collagen that reinforces connective tissue. Research has proven that direct exposure of fibroblasts to growth factors causes new cell growth and collagen deposition.  Prolotherapy is an ideal alternative to steroid injections because it actual heals the injury permanently as opposed to weakening it long-term.

2.  Prolotherapy decreases pain by increasing circulation to areas of chronic pain.

Joints, ligaments, tendons, and chronic sites of pain are known to be areas in our body with lower amounts of circulation. This in turn creates a cycle of increased lactic acid production, and difficulty in healing. The stimulus that Prolotherapy creates by increasing growth factors can resume or initiate new connective tissue repair that may have been prematurely stopped or that never begun. Biopsies of tissue treated with Prolotherapy show ligament thickening, increased volume of the attachments of previously injured tendons to bone, and stronger organized tendons and ligaments. These studies prove the importance of prolo injections for musculoskeletal conditions such as a chronic back pain treatment, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, and any other tendon, ligament, or joint issue.

Prolotherapy injections are used for pain or injury that has not resolved after eight weeks, or if more rapid healing is desired beforehand. Prolotherapy can be used years after the initial injury, and is a long-term solution as opposed to the alternative of drugs or steroid (cortisone) injections.  Treatments are given every 2-4 weeks, and the response depends on the area and chronicity of the injury.  Many people will gain relief with just 1 treatment, and the general recommendation is to plan for 4-6 treatments to begin with.

3.  Prolotherapy is a non-surgical treatment, minimally painful, with little to no downtime.

We take our time with every prolotherapy treatment to make sure it is minimally painful, and you leave in as little pain as possible.  After your prolotherapy treatment at Purety Medical Clinic here in Santa Barbara, you will have very little downtime.  Many times patients will be back in action within the day, and soreness at the injections sites will only last up to 3 days.  As an alternative to the down-time of surgery our patients are delighted.

4.  Prolotherapy was discovered by Medical Doctors after healing their own injuries, and so became their choice of treatment for themselves.

Prolotherapy injections have been used since the early 1900s.  In the 1930’s, Dr. Earl Gedney, an osteopathic surgeon successfully treated his own severe hand injury with prolotherapy.  This paved the way for its modern applications in the 1950s when prolo injection protocols were formally organized by George Hackett, a general surgeon in the U.S. based on over 30 years of his clinical experience. Since then, the detail of protocols, types of solutions, and method of treatment has continued to become more and more sophisticated for pain management success. According to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831229/ , a 1993 survey of 95 practitioners in the United States had performed prolotherapy on an estimated 450,000 patients. Now there is estimated to be over 2,000 prolotherapists just in the United States, with much growing interest internationally. The name prolotherapy used to be ‘sclerotherapy’ because it was orginially thought that early solutions were scar-forming. We now know of the proliferative effects and non-scar effects of the prolotherapy injections. Prolotherapy has also evolved into other potentially stronger regenerative injection therapy, or RIT. For enhanced healing benefit, we also offer platelet rich plasma (PRP), prolozone, and amniotic stem cell injections.

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Pain Relief with Prolotherapy, PRP, and Stem Cell injections

We focus on regenerative and minimally invasive treatments to help heal all joint and soft tissue pain. Our doctors are specialists in prolotherapy, prolozone, PRP platelet rich plasma, and stem cell injections.  We also offer medical massage, and neural prolotherapy as single therapies or a combination as needed.

We’re located at 200 N La Cumbre Rd Suite F Santa Barbara, California, 93110Phone: (805) 500-8300

Pain is the most common reason that patients seek medical care.  Pain can be a distraction and it can be disabling; either way pain gets in the way of everyday life.  Have you noticed that you don’t do things you love to do because pain gets in your way?  Let us help you. We have focused our training on effective, regenerative and minimally invasive treatments for pain.

Pain Relief with Prolotherapy, PRP, and Stem Cell injections

We focus on regenerative and minimally invasive treatments to help heal all joint and soft tissue pain. Our doctors are specialists in prolotherapy, prolozone, PRP platelet rich plasma, and stem cell injections. We also offer medical massage, and neural prolotherapy as single therapies or a combination as needed.

We’re located at 200 N La Cumbre Rd Suite F Santa Barbara, California, 93110

Phone: (805) 500-8300

Pain is the most common reason that patients seek medical care. Pain can be a distraction and it can be disabling; either way pain gets in the way of everyday life. Have you noticed that you don’t do things you love to do because pain gets in your way? Let us help you. We have focused our training on effective, regenerative and minimally invasive treatments for pain.

rolotherapy is an injection technique excellent for all forms of musculoskeletal and joint pain. Our doctors have specialized in comprehensive Hackett-Hemwall prolotherapy treatments for best long-term results with treatment. Our prolotherapy doctors will spend the time to make sure your prolotherapy treatment is effective and minimally painful.

Prolotherapy has proven to be so helpful for chronic hard-to-treat pain and injuries including neck pain, lower back pain, hip pain, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, back spasms, rotator cuff injuries, degenerative and arthritic hips and knees, degenerated discs, shoulder and elbow pain, plantar fasciitis, TMJ syndrome, and virtually all sports injuries. Prolotherapy actually corrects the pathology of the disorder, offering a great chance for the chronic pain sufferer to becoming permanently pain free.

Prolotherapy works for pain management as a long-term solution because it heals and strengthens your tissue instead of deadening or weakening it.

Prolotherapy decreases pain by increasing circulation to areas of chronic pain.

Prolotherapy is a non-surgical treatment, minimally painful, with little to no downtime.

Prolozone was named by combining the Latin word “proli”, which means to regenerate or rebuild, and the word ozone. Ozone is the most active form of oxygen in the universe, and low levels of oxygen cause an accumulation of lactic acid and leads to the feeling of pain. By breaking the pattern of low oxygen in damaged tissues, circulation can be restored, giving joints, ligaments, and tendons the ability to regenerate. Along with the power of ozone, Prolozone injections also make use of other natural substances in order to decrease inflammation and further increase circulation. Patients receiving Prolozone feel immediate improvement, with very little to no pain during and after the treatments.

PRP Platelet Rich Plasma has become a heavily growing treatment for an extra boost of healing within regenerative injection technology. Here at Purety Clinic of Santa Barbara we use special technology for super-concentrated platelet rich plasma in order to promote the best healing. The reason PRP platelet rich plasma works so well is because platelets release growth factor when activated. By injecting PRP platelet rich plasma into an area that needs healing, the growth factors have proven to be a powerful regenerative treatment.

Stem cell enhanced injections are an important technology for regeneration of badly injured and degenerated tissue. Here we have done an extensive amount of training for the most effective and comfortable treatment using adipose (fat) and bone marrow derived stem cells (BMAC). We also use amniotic or umbilical cord injections which are a super power of growth factors – these are minimally invasive, yet have no live cells. Stem cell therapy is being used successfully for joint replacement alternatives, severe osteoarthritis, chronic degenerative ligaments and tendons. Stem cell therapy for knees, shoulders, ankles, and back pain are helping many people.

We encourage you to take a look at these studies and articles for review:

Current use of Adipose stem cells in orthopedics – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5282826/

Application of biologics in the treatment of the rotator cuff, meniscus, cartilage, and osteoarthritis.Chondrogenic potential of human adult mesenchymal stem cells is independent of age or osteoarthritis etiology.

Adipose + PRP case series – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991578/Fat, Bone Marrow, and Fat+bone marrow case series – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5943f86b03596eaae6506cfa/t/594aa3c01e5b6cc5d6dc0164/1498063824445/adelson-naturopathic-stem-cells+%281%29.pdfAdult Stem Cell Therapy overview – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5943f86b03596eaae6506cfa/t/595d1cc84402435459495610/1499274451786/caplan-2013-mscs-env-responsive-therpeuticsfor-regenmed.pdf

Medical Massage and Therapeutic bodywork is imperative especially for chronic pain conditions as well as athletes. Over time, our bodies are very good at compensating for injuries and pain in order to protect itself. Unless the whole body is addressed with therapeutic bodywork, it is many times very difficult to get back to full functioning. Our doctors maintain certifications in providing relief with traditional soft tissue techniques, therapeutic bodywork, sports massage, and trigger point therapy.

Neural prolotherapy, also known as Perineural injection therapy, is one of the newest exciting advances in Regenerative Medicine used to treat neuropathic pain in a variety of musculoskeletal injuries and various pain conditions including Achilles tendonitis, tennis elbow, painful knees, shoulders, wrist, neck, hips, ankles low back pain and compartment syndrome.

Neural Prolotherapy is the injection of a medical-grade sugar (either dextrose or mannitol) just below the skin to promote healing of injured nerves and restoration of tissue function. Dr. John Lyftogt in New Zealand developed it when he postulated that restoration of subcutaneous nerve function (those just beneath the surface of the skin) will lead to healing in deeper structures and reduction in pain. He has been using this method over the last decade with outstanding results and it is now being taught around the world. Every treatment aims to extinguish the pain, which may last for a period of four hours to four days. After this the pain will return, but usually in a lesser form. Repeat weekly treatments will steadily reduce the overall pain and allow return of full function.

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