Is Prolo the Surgery Alternative You’ve Been Looking For?

Dave came to me with a story that left me feeling equal parts devastated and fired up. 

He was bounced around and abused so much by the “healthcare” system that he completely walked away from the system 1 week before his scheduled surgery FOUR years ago and never went back. 

Because he was living with a torn rotator cuff (which will never heal on its own without assistance) he needs 5 pillows to prop him up at night just to give him enough relief to fall asleep…and if he moves at all in his sleep, he awakes with burning pain and has to start the process all over again. 

Four years ago he went to a doctor for an injury to his elbow, was prescribed PT and pain killers, and sent on his way. 

In PT he was assigned exercise that led to bilateral rotator cuff injuries that eventually led him to the scheduled surgery. 

At his pre-op visit, he was told the recovery time would be 1 year, which he couldn't afford to take off work, so he left and never went back. 

Unfortunately, this isn't an uncommon story. 

Thankfully, Dave's sister saw my Instagram post about how I used prolotherapy to heal my dad’s shoulder from the same injury and encouraged him to give me a call! 

Typically when you go to the doctor with musculoskeletal pain, you're going to get offered some combination of drugs, cortisone shots, surgery, and/or physical therapy. 

Now, I'm personally a huge fan of Physical Therapy to improve muscle imbalance and stability, but never without also discussing the WHY and preparing the body for healing simultaneously. I’ll also add that in certain cases where there is a tear in a ligament or tendon, PT can actually make the situation worse. 

For the body to heal, the conditions for health have to be established first.

Don't get me wrong, drugs are great for some temporary relief in a pinch, but because they work by shutting off the inflammatory cascade, the body has no way to heal the damaged tissues (which it does through positive inflammation).

Similarly, cortisone is designed to shut off all inflammation in the area it is injected, and since inflammation generally causes the pain, cortisone shots do often provide temporary relief…but at what cost?  

Unfortunately, cortisone also accelerates the damage to the area, essentially breaking down the soft tissue and preventing any healing from happening. 

When the cortisone shot wears off, you're left with more pain and damage than you started with. 

This process is then repeated until surgery is the only option left. 

Ever wondered why you can only get 3 cortisone shots in one area? Now you know. 

This leaves us with our final conventional tool, surgery. 

Surgery is a life-saving option in some cases, but other times its just a huge pain with no gain.

It's extremely expensive, very painful, and requires a lengthy recovery period- sometimes involving months (if not years) of drugs and PT before you see lasting improvement in pain and mobility. 

This is exactly why Dave (and many others like him) choose to live in pain over proceeding with surgery!

Clinically, I find that wear and tear injuries like knee replacements and back fusions usually result in very little, if any, overall improvement in quality of life. In these cases I tend to assume its because the root cause has not been addressed- generally inflammation due to diet and lifestyle, posture and/or ergonomics issues or other stress due to excess weight or weight-bearing exercises. 

Thankfully, there is a 4th option your doctor didn't tell you about, which is the point of this blog. 

Prolotherapy, short for "proliferative therapy," has gained attention in recent years for its ability to provide relief of chronic pain and induce rapid healing of musculoskeletal injuries, even in areas that lack blood flow and the ability to self-heal. 

These treatments involve the injection of a pro-inflammatory solution into damaged or weakened connective tissues, to stimulate the body's natural healing processes.

The secret to prolotherapy is that it works by drawing nutrients and signaling factors to areas that normally have low blood flow and low cell turnover rates and therefore do not have the natural ability to heal rapidly on their own. 

Using this PRO-inflammatory procedure, I was able to help my 72-year-old dad recover from an injury identical to Dave's in just 4 months, with NO downtime. 

Remember the typical surgery recovery period averages 12 months for this injury, not to mention the waiting period before the surgery is even scheduled!

By stimulating inflammation, we stimulate the healing response, allowing tissues to regenerate naturally, eliminating pain and oftentimes negating the need for surgery. 

The best part is that the healing starts immediately, so even though my dad needed 4 injections over 4 months to see full resolution, his pain began improving and he began to regain the use of his arm after the first treatment. 

This may sound like a painful procedure being that it stimulates inflammation, but the beauty is that the dextrose solution used in basic polo-treatments has a natural pain relieving effect. 

In my clinical experience, most people feel mild to moderate discomfort during the procedure and usually leave my office reporting an improvement in pain level if we are using low-level prolo. Higher level procedures like PRP, which are required for more severe injuries, like my dads and Dave’s, do create a fair amount of soreness for a few hours to a few days post procedure. But this discomfort is generally tolerable and does not require any pain-medication.  

There is a catch though, because this won't work for everyone. 

To get a long-lasting and positive response you must first correct the cause of any “wear and tear” and second prime the body to heal. Note that if the damage is due to a recent injury, this process will look slightly different than if its a more chronic condition. 

In Dave’s case, we spent the first week minimizing systemic inflammation through diet modifications so that when we started the injections we got the best possible results. 

If we simply jump into treatment without reducing systemic inflammation, we set the body up for temporary relief at best, and a very painful response to treatment at worst.

But if we minimize systemic inflammation, we can speed up the healing process and avoid the same damage and pain returning in the near or distant future. 

So what does it take to prime the body? 

To heal, you must have a nutrient-dense diet, well balanced blood sugars and low systemic toxin burden.

For my dad, this meant eating more protein, cutting back on his nightly whiskey, and working through a few emotional stressors he had been avoiding.

For Dave, this meant eating more protein and cutting back on sugar intake, while also improving the quality and quantity of his sleep. 

For most people, this combination of diet, sleep, and stress modifications are far easier to implement than a post-surgery routine of medications, physical therapy, and doctor's visits. Plus these habits pay dividend for life!

And if you don't resonate with my 72yo dad or Dave, here are a few celebrities who have benefited from prolotherapy:

1. Harrison Ford: The iconic actor reportedly underwent prolotherapy treatments to address chronic back pain, which he had been suffering from for years. He credited prolotherapy with allowing him to continue performing physically demanding roles.

2. Kobe Bryant: The late NBA legend Kobe Bryant was known to have used prolotherapy to manage his joint and muscle injuries, which helped him extend his career in professional basketball.

3. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson: (The Mountain from Game of Thrones): The strongman and actor, famous for his role as "The Mountain," has publicly shared his positive experiences with prolotherapy for injuries sustained during his strongman career.

On another note, one of my teachers used to be the trainer for the Seattle Mariners and regularly used all forms of naturopathic medicine, including prolotherapy, to keep the team in top shape. 

The only question left to ask is, if the pros are using it, why aren't you!?

If you’re ready to ditch your pain and regain your strength and mobility, naturally, I'd love to chat. 

Id be happy to jump on a phone call to see if this is right for you!