When Will I feel Better?
The Tortoise versus the Hare
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"Dr. Dean Reeves, when will I feel better with prolotherapy for my pain?"
The answer depends on the problem we are treating.
Weak tendons and ligaments
This condition takes persistence. Like the Tortoise, the race for pain relief and healing requires a slow and steady approach.
Improvement of ligament and tendon weakness typically begins 6 weeks after injection. When tissue reaches enough strength to not stimulate nerves within the tissue, pain then decreases for the next 9-10 weeks after treatment.
Depending on how weak the tissue is, two treatments may be needed before any change in pain levels can be detected. If it takes 6-10 weeks for healing after each treatment, that process may take 4-5 months to get tissue strong enough to quit stimulating pain nerves.
Keep in mind that if treatment is not comprehensive, a lot of treatments may be needed, which is why we prefer comprehensive treatment.
How many people improve? Based on our experience in treating complex patients, about 40% improve of my patients with ligament and tendon weakness experience pain relief 8-10 weeks after one treatment and another 40% by 8-10 weeks after the second treatment.
Order of improvement: The first thing that changes is the ability to be more active.
The next thing to improve is a reduction in the level of pain constancy or how often pain occurs.
Finally, pain severity eases and begins to go away.
Inflamed Nerves
When pain is primarily due to inflamed nerves, growth is not required. In this case, nerves are firing too fast. When provided with dextrose, they have extra energy to repolarize to their normal level, making them resistant to firing so easily. This is an immediate effect that may wear off, but nerves typically reset at a lower, consistent pain level. This is the Hare approach to pain relief and reduction.
Sometimes we start with nerve treatment, not ligament and tendon treatment, using dextrose (5%; D5W) as a diagnostic injection, to determine how much of the chronic pain is due to inflamed nerves. This is usual as the effects of D5W occur within seconds of injection.
Different treatment frequency: Depending on the nerves, the treatment interval is often different than for prolotherapy, because we don't need to wait on tissue healing times.
Call my office now (913-362-1600) and let's get started with "Real Hope" for your pain relief. You deserve to say, "I feel better!"
The answer depends on the problem we are treating.
Weak tendons and ligaments
This condition takes persistence. Like the Tortoise, the race for pain relief and healing requires a slow and steady approach.
Improvement of ligament and tendon weakness typically begins 6 weeks after injection. When tissue reaches enough strength to not stimulate nerves within the tissue, pain then decreases for the next 9-10 weeks after treatment.
Depending on how weak the tissue is, two treatments may be needed before any change in pain levels can be detected. If it takes 6-10 weeks for healing after each treatment, that process may take 4-5 months to get tissue strong enough to quit stimulating pain nerves.
Keep in mind that if treatment is not comprehensive, a lot of treatments may be needed, which is why we prefer comprehensive treatment.
How many people improve? Based on our experience in treating complex patients, about 40% improve of my patients with ligament and tendon weakness experience pain relief 8-10 weeks after one treatment and another 40% by 8-10 weeks after the second treatment.
Order of improvement: The first thing that changes is the ability to be more active.
The next thing to improve is a reduction in the level of pain constancy or how often pain occurs.
Finally, pain severity eases and begins to go away.
Inflamed Nerves
When pain is primarily due to inflamed nerves, growth is not required. In this case, nerves are firing too fast. When provided with dextrose, they have extra energy to repolarize to their normal level, making them resistant to firing so easily. This is an immediate effect that may wear off, but nerves typically reset at a lower, consistent pain level. This is the Hare approach to pain relief and reduction.
Sometimes we start with nerve treatment, not ligament and tendon treatment, using dextrose (5%; D5W) as a diagnostic injection, to determine how much of the chronic pain is due to inflamed nerves. This is usual as the effects of D5W occur within seconds of injection.
Different treatment frequency: Depending on the nerves, the treatment interval is often different than for prolotherapy, because we don't need to wait on tissue healing times.
Call my office now (913-362-1600) and let's get started with "Real Hope" for your pain relief. You deserve to say, "I feel better!"