If you have osteoarthritis, you know that the pain can limit your activities. Part of good health includes doing the things you enjoy doing, and our experts at Osteopathic Center for Healing want to help you live a life full of activity and joy.
One of the reasons we offer prolotherapy for osteoarthritis is so you can do the things you love.
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease. It’s sometimes called wear-and-tear arthritis. It becomes much more likely as you get older, and most people who live long enough will develop it.
Your joints are where bones meet. They’re padded with cartilage, which allows the bones to glide smoothly without pain. As you get older, your cartilage gets more brittle and eventually begins to degrade.
As the cartilage gets thinner, the bones of the affected joint begin to rub against each other. You may lose range of motion, which means you won’t be able to bend or straighten the joint completely, and you’ll likely have tenderness, swelling, and pain.
Osteoarthritis damages your joints slowly over time. It may begin with some stiffness, or you may notice a joint making a clicking sound. You might find that a joint locks into place sometimes, and you have to think about bending or straightening it.
There’s no cure for osteoarthritis, but there are treatments that can slow the degeneration of your cartilage. We may also be able to recommend treatments to help ease your symptoms.
One of the most important things you can do when you have osteoarthritis is to keep moving. Exercise helps strengthen the structures that support your joints. Treatments that ease your pain and allow you to continue exercising can be a key part of maintaining an optimal level of health.
Prolotherapy is a treatment that’s been around since the 1950s, and it involves injecting an irritant, usually a type of sugar called dextrose, into the affected area.
You may be wondering why it’s a good idea to inject an irritant into an already irritated area. It does seem counterintuitive.
Experts don’t know exactly why prolotherapy works, but they do have some theories. They believe the irritant:
Regardless of exactly what happens, the result is that your body begins working to heal the damaged cartilage. We can also use prolotherapy for injuries such as whiplash or other soft tissue damage.
You may need several injections to get the full benefit of prolotherapy. It’s generally considered very safe, as you’re unlikely to have a negative reaction to the dextrose.
If you’d like to learn more about prolotherapy and find out if you might be a good candidate for this innovative approach to treating osteoarthritis, schedule an appointment with us at Osteopathic Center for Healing in Rockville, Maryland, today.
