Tendonitis typically develops over time due to overuse and stress, which means it can also take ample time to remedy. To speed up your recovery from tendonitis, we often turn to a minimally invasive and highly effective technique called prolotherapy.
At HealthFirst, Dr. Jonathan Singer and our team aim to solve musculoskeletal issues in the least invasive way possible. With the goal of working with your body rather than around it, we offer a wide range of services that support your body’s healing efforts, including prolotherapy.
Here’s a look at this incredibly simple — yet effective — technique for helping resolve your issues with tendonitis.
Your body is designed to be self-sustaining, which means it has the resources it needs to heal on its own. Unfortunately, your body works at its own speed, which often isn’t fast enough for our busy lives.
If you suffer from tendonitis anywhere in your body, the best treatment is usually rest. Tendonitis occurs when tiny tears develop in your tendon — usually due to overuse — that lead to inflammation. If you rest the damaged tissue long enough the tears heal themselves and the inflammation subsides, but this can take many months.
Through prolotherapy, our goal is to accelerate your body’s healing process by giving it a little push. This push comes in the form of dextrose (sugar), which is an irritant that we inject into your damaged tendon.
Our goal here is to amplify the healing call. When your body registers the irritant, it jumps into action and sends in platelets, which release growth factors. These growth factors signal proteins that stimulate cell growth and tissue repair.
Ultimately, with prolotherapy we can speed up the natural healing processes without resorting to more invasive measures that may do more harm than good.
The process for getting prolotherapy is very easy. When you come in, we apply a topical anesthetic for your comfort and then use ultrasound guidance to ensure that the injection targets the right area.
After your injections, you’re free to return home and get on with your normal routine. That said, you should plan on taking it easy for a few days after your prolotherapy treatment because your body often responds with inflammation before the rebuilding begins.
Once this inflammation subsides, you should notice gradual results as your tendon rebuilds and repairs itself. Patience and rest are still key during this time and you shouldn’t push the tissue during the healing process.
If you struggle with painful and limiting tendonitis, contact one of our two locations in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, by phone or online to explore how prolotherapy can help.
