Prolotherapy Glastonbury
The Original Regenerative Medicine Treatment
Prolotherapy is often considered the original regenerative medicine treatment, as it was first developed in the 1950s to treat ongoing painful musculoskeletal conditions. At New England Stem Cell Institute in Glastonbury, Dr. Paul Tortland has been using prolotherapy to reduce pain and promote healing since 1995, longer than almost all medical practices in the United States. You’ll be surprised at just what this incredible solution can accomplish!
Why Choose New England Stem Cell Institute for Prolotherapy?
- Able to Heal Chronic Pain with a Simple Injection
- Decades of Experience, Countless Satisfied Patients
- Often Able to Help Patients Avoid Invasive Surgery
How Prolotherapy Works
Sometimes referred to as “proliferative therapy,” prolotherapy is a form of regenerative medicine that stimulates your body’s natural healing powers. The treatment involves an injection made up of dextrose (a type of sugar) and Novocaine™. The sugar in the injection mildly irritates your tissue, which tricks your body into thinking it’s been injured. This then signals your body to send healing cells to repair the damage.
Prolotherapy was invented in the 1950s by Ohio surgeon Dr. George Hackett. He used it successfully to treat chronic back pain. In one sense, prolotherapy may be considered the “original” regenerative medicine treatment. Note that prolotherapy stimulates the repair of damaged tissue as well as the production of new tissue, but it does not cause scar tissue formation.
The Basics of Prolozone®?
Prolozone is a variant of prolotherapy. Invented by regenerative medicine and anti-aging physician Dr. Frank Shallenberger, Prolozone modifies the basic prolotherapy dextrose-Novocaine solution by adding various vitamins and homeopathic ingredients that can help provide nutrition for the cells during healing.
In addition, Prolozone® also involves injecting the damaged area with a mixture of oxygen and ozone gases immediately after the liquid solution. Oxygen and ozone also support cell function to stimulate healing.
How Prolotherapy & Prolozone® Is Used
The team at the New England Stem Cell Institute offers prolotherapy as a treatment to manage many common musculoskeletal conditions, including:
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Tennis and golfer’s elbow
- Arthritis
- Chronic sprains and strains
- Chronic tendinitis
- Chronic neck and back pain
Because the injection contains an anesthetic and all-natural ingredients, prolotherapy and Prolozone® are considered very safe treatments with minimal side effects or risks.
Who Prolotherapy or Prolozone® Can Help
Your physician at the New England Stem Cell Institute will discuss with you whether prolotherapy or Prolozone is the best treatment option for you.
Prolotherapy/ Prolozone® vs. Stem Cells & PRP
First, neither prolotherapy nor Prolozone® requires drawing blood or harvesting stem cells from bone marrow or fat. So, treatments are much quicker and don’t require more invasive harvesting techniques. And these treatments are also less expensive since no cells need to be obtained. Prolotherapy and Prolozone® are generally slightly milder or less aggressive treatments compared to either PRP or stem cells. For patients where a less robust treatment is needed, prolotherapy or Prolozone® may be more appropriate. However, because they are less potent, more treatments are usually needed. In our experience, one PRP treatment is roughly equivalent to 2 - 3 prolotherapy or Prolozone® treatments.
Prolotherapy FAQs
Why haven’t I heard of prolotherapy before?
Prolotherapy is considered to be a new treatment by the larger medical community (even though it has been around for about 70 years). The reason you may have not seen it before is that prolotherapy, along with many of the regenerative medicine techniques we use at the New England Stem Cell Clinic, (including PRP and stem cell injections) are not currently taught in most medical schools. As a result, many physicians are not familiar with it despite the positive results that Dr. Tortland and his peers have seen over the decades.
Is prolotherapy safe?
Yes, as it is made using two extremely common substances—sugar and Novocain. You consume sugar every day, and Novocain has been used as a local anesthetic for decades. One of the biggest advantages of this method is how safe and non-invasive it is while being able to help with a wide variety of injuries.
Are there any side effects of prolotherapy?
Right after a patient has received a prolotherapy injection, they may experience some short-term swelling, bruising, and tenderness in the area. This will be limited to the injection site and should go away on its own within a few days, though in rare cases, it may last for about a week. This is simply due to the treatment working as intended, in that it slightly irritates the affected area, so the body focuses its healing abilities on it.
Is prolotherapy painful?
Thankfully, no. While there might be some soreness right after the injection, the patient won’t experience anything like pain afterward. In many cases, the least liked part about this method is the need for an injection itself, but we can help make every part of the process easy and stress-free.
How much does prolotherapy cost?
Depending on the location of the injection, a single prolotherapy treatment can cost around $275-$500. Typically, we recommend that a patient receive multiple treatments to experience the maximum benefit. It’s also important to note that insurance does not cover prolotherapy treatment, but if a patient needs help affording their care, we offer a variety of flexible payment options.