Our practice treats patients who typically have the following shoulder related issues; arthritis, most rotator cuff tears as well as biceps ligament tears. Prolotherapy is not effective for adhesive capsulitis. When treated over a period of five weeks, 80% of our patients have found we have alleviated their pain.
The shoulder joint has the greatest range of motion of all the joints in your body. It is a complex joint with many layers, including bones, ligaments, tendons, rotator cuff, and muscles. These parts are susceptible to damage by degeneration, injury, and overuse.
Here are some common shoulder issues.
Dislocation
The shoulder is the most commonly dislocated joint in the body, caused by accidents, sports injuries, or falls. Your shoulder is a ball and socket joint, meaning that the top of the upper arm bone (humerus) is rounded like a ball. The ball fits into a cup-shaped socket in the shoulder blade. The shoulder becomes dislocated if the humerus fully or partially moves out of the socket.
Bursitis
Bursitis is the inflammation of the bursa, a tiny, fluid-filled sac that reduces friction between joints. The bursa gets inflamed when there is too much friction. This is common in people who perform repetitive actions, such as gardeners, athletes, and musicians.
Rotator Cuff Tears
The rotator cuff is a group of tendons and muscles in the shoulder that stabilize your arm and let you rotate your shoulder. Tears can occur suddenly due to injury, or develop slowly because of overuse or degeneration. You may have a rotator cuff tear if you have shoulder pain at night and
weakness when moving your arm.
AC Separation
An acromioclavicular joint separation is an injury to the ligaments that link the collarbone to the shoulder blade. The separation can result from a direct blow, such as when you play contact sports like football, hockey and rugby. You may notice a bump at the top of the shoulder, limited shoulder movement, or arm weakness.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis that affects the shoulder. This is a degeneration of the cartilage, which is the outer covering of bone. You may feel pain when you sleep, and limited range of motion that affects your ability to finish daily tasks.
How Prolotherapy Can Help Shoulder Pain
Many shoulder problems affect the soft tissues of the ligaments, muscles, and tendons. In this case, rest, pain medication, and ice and heat packs do little to relieve shoulder discomfort.
Prolotherapy, also called regenerative injection therapy, is a way of injecting an irritant solution into a tendon or ligament in order to cause a reparative inflammatory reaction to help repair the tendon and relieve pain.
Prolotherapy is especially effective for rotator cuff tears as it strengthens partially-torn tendons and ligaments. Additionally, osteoarthritis, AC separation, instability of the shoulder, and other shoulder issues respond well to prolotherapy.
Shoulder pain is a nuisance, particularly if it interferes with your daily life. Contact Boston Prolotherapy & Orthopedics today for relief.