Caring Medical
& Rehabilitation Services
715 Lake Street, Suite 600
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
708.848.7789 Phone
708.848.7763 Fax

The anesthetic in the solution used during Prolotherapy sessions often provides immediate pain relief. The pain relief may continue after the effect of the anesthetic subsides due to the stabilizing of the treated joints because of the inflammation caused by the Prolotherapy injections.

This pain relief normally continues for a few weeks after the first treatment.
Between the second and fourth weeks the initial stabilization induced by the Prolotherapy subsides, and because the initial growth of ligament tissue is not complete, some of the original pain may return during this "window period" of healing.

Follow-up is recommended six weeks after each treatment to ensure an accurate assessment of results, avoiding an evaluation of a patient during the "window period."

Prolotherapy is performed every six weeks because most ligaments heal over a six-week period. As healing progresses, the quantity of injections required per treatment usually decreases. The pain generally continues to diminish with each treatment unless it is an acute injury which may heal in only two to three weeks after Prolotherapy. Our friend and colleague Dr. Van Pelt has seen this increased speed of recovery in a multitude of sports injuries including ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) sprains of the knee. We have seen the same results in our office.