Many times painful joints, back, shoulders and even sciatica are due to tendons that have become weak. Tendons are structures that connect muscle to bone. Most everyone has heard of the Achilles Tendon which connects the calf muscle to the heel bone, i.e. calcaneus. Prolotherapy is a simple procedure that utilizes a variety of substances, most often lidocaine and 50% dextrose. When this mixture is injected into a tendon that has become weak over a short period of time, usually 3 to 6 weeks the body senses an inflammation that has occurred by injecting the tendon. The body then heals the tendon in the same manner when a person sprains their ankle. Prolotherapy utilizes the bodies own healing mechanism by creating an inflammation. Over 3 to 6 weeks the tendon thickens, shortens, strengthens the tendon involved. The connection to the bone also recruits more fibrous bone tissue increasing the tensile strength of the tendons attachment to the bone. This process often results in relief of pain. This technique has been used for all joint pains, Sciatica, back pain.
Ozone, a 3 molecule of oxygen, is often added to the prolo substance. This is called Prolozone. Oxygen is a healing additive in itself as the body is made to respond to higher levels of oxygen.