Am I A Candidate For Prolotherapy?

The best way to find out is to call and speak directly with Dr. Franchi – he personally advises every prospective patient on whether prolotherapy is the right treatment for their situation. But the following gives you a clear picture of who responds well and who does not.

Good candidates for prolotherapy

You are likely a good candidate if your pain has a structural cause – meaning it comes from a damaged, stretched, or weakened ligament or tendon rather than from nerve compression or systemic inflammation. Specific indicators include:

    • You have pinpoint tenderness: you can press on a specific spot and reproduce your pain. This tells Dr. Franchi where the ligament or tendon is damaged and the general area where to inject.
    • You have been told you have joint instability, ligament laxity, or a partial tendon tear
    • You have chronic pain that has not responded to physical therapy, rest, or cortisone
    • You have had cortisone injections that worked initially but are providing less relief over time
    • You have been told surgery is your next option and want to explore alternatives first
    • You have osteoarthritis causing pain and stiffness in a weight-bearing joint
    • You have a hypermobility condition such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
    • You are a healthy non-smoker without autoimmune disease (prolotherapy is 85% effective in this population)

Conditions Dr. Franchi commonly treats with prolotherapy

Knees, shoulders, hips, lower back, ankles, feet, elbows, wrists, hands, and neck. Specific conditions include MCL tears, rotator cuff tears, AC separations, sacroiliac instability, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendon injuries, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, groin strains, pubic instability, and joint instability from hypermobility.

Who is not a candidate

Prolotherapy does not treat herniated disks, spinal stenosis, carpal or tarsal tunnel syndrome, Morton’s neuroma, or fibromyalgia. It is not appropriate for most meniscus tears (except peripheral tears), complete ACL ruptures, or adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder). If your condition is on this list, Dr. Franchi will tell you so in the consultation and, if possible, refer you to the most appropriate specialist.

A note on age

There is no upper age limit for prolotherapy. Dr. Franchi has treated patients across a wide age range. The healing response that prolotherapy triggers is a normal biological function – it does not require youth to work. Older patients may require slightly more treatments, but the mechanism is the same.

Next step

Call 833-Go-Prolo (833-467-7656) or 781-299-7521 for a complimentary phone consultation with Dr. Franchi. He will review your specific situation and give you an honest assessment of whether prolotherapy is likely to help. Boston Prolotherapy and Orthopedics, 92 Montvale Avenue, Suite 4650, Stoneham, MA. Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

I’m 26 years old. I grew up showing horses and I have and injury where I injured my L4 and L5 vertebrae in my lower back. Would I be a good candidate for prolotherapy?

Possibly. The key to prolotherapy is if you have point tenderness in your lower back. Some people think prolotherapy is helpful for herniated disc. I disagree with that. I think it’s too invasive a procedure. But if you have areas on your back where you can say, “I know exactly where this hurts,” prolotherapy is very appropriate. Because when we give you the injections, we give them at the point of pain, because that’s telling us where the ligament or tendon is damaged.

For an older relative of mine, he often experiences shoulder pain, possibly arthritis. Could prolotherapy help him?

Yes. I had a woman come to me who could not raise her shoulder. She had severe arthritis. She also had what’s called adhesive capsulitis.

She came to me and asked if I’d do prolotherapy. At the time I was a little skeptical. I gave her the injections and also an intensive physical therapy program to get her shoulder moving again.

She is my favorite patient now. She is so happy. She has 90% motion in her shoulder and her pain has gone away. I didn’t believe it so much, so I took another x-ray, and actually some of the arthritis was decreased. Really.

I had another woman with a torn rotator cuff who refused to have surgery. I said, OK, I’ll treat you. She had an MRI which showed the rotator cuff. She came back three months later like this [raises his arm]. Is said, “Do you mind if I do another MRI? I’ll pay for it myself.” The MRI report showed no rotator cuff tear – it was completely healed.