Prolotherapy: Emerging Medical Therapy for Arthritis and Joint Pain
April 7, 2011 by Dr. Marc Darrow, MD
Filed under Articles, Prolotherapy
From The Journal of Longevity.
Marc Darrow, a Los Angeles physician, is one of many doctors in the U.S. who offer an amazing new treatment called Prolotherapy. Its name is derived from the word “proliferation,” and its goal is to stimulate the growth of new tissue, repairing damage to worn-out joints and relieving pain and discomfort. First, the exact location of the pain is found using an acupuncture needle. Then an injection of diluted dextrose and an anesthetic is given. The anesthetic relieves the pain, while the dextrose stimulates the body’s healing response.
It does this by acting as a “shock agent,” drawing water from superficial cells and drying out the site. It induces slight, but controlled inflammation, and the healing process is set in motion.
Marc Darrow, a Los Angeles physician, is one of many doctors in the U.S. who offer an amazing new treatment called Prolotherapy. Its name is derived from the word “proliferation,” and its goal is to stimulate the growth of new tissue, repairing damage to worn-out joints and relieving pain and discomfort. First, the exact location of the pain is found using an acupuncture needle. Then an injection of diluted dextrose and an anesthetic is given. The anesthetic relieves the pain, while the dextrose stimulates the body’s healing response. It does this by acting as a “shock agent,” drawing water from superficial cells and drying out the site. It induces slight, but controlled inflammation, and the healing process is set in motion.
Dr. Darrow emphasizes that inflammation “means the body is responding to an injury or stress to the joint by sending cellular compounds to the damaged area. It’s your body’s way of getting the healing process started.” Once these cellular compounds have done their job, they are replaced by fibroblasts, which begin repairing the damage and forming granular tissue that will become new collagen. Collagen is a major component of the connective tissue found between tendons and ligaments.
A few clinical studies have already confirmed the benefits of Prolotherapy. Researchers at the Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City observed a decrease in pain and swelling in the arthritic knees and fingers of subjects. And this year, Australian researchers at the University of Queensland saw “significant and sustained reductions in pain and disability” after Prolotherapy had been administered to 110 patients with lower-back pain.
Dr. Darrow discovered Prolotherapy after having undergone it himself.
During his fourth year of residency at UCLA, while suffering pain from an injured wrist, he met Dr. Andrew Kochan, who used Prolotherapy. After a few weeks of injections, Dr. Darrow was healed. He now gets great satisfaction from helping other people live active lives free of pain, without the need for anti-inflammatory painkillers.
