Prolozone Therapy
What Is Prolozone Therapy?

Prolozone is a form of non-surgical ligament reconstruction and is a permanent treatment for chronic pain. Prolozone is a connective tissue injection therapy of collagen producing substances and ozone gas which can reconstruct damaged or weakened connective tissue in and around joints. These substances are injected into the damaged connective tissue in and around a joint to rebuild the damaged areas.

By repairing the connective tissue this is all that is needed to permanently reverse chronic pain.

Prolozone Therapy is an injection technique similar to prolotherapy that uses ozone. The use of ozone causes the joint to heal much more quickly than in traditional prolotherapy. This is because ozone is a highly reactive molecule and when injected into a joint capsule it is able to stimulate the fibroblastic joint repairing abilities.

Prolozone is derived from the word ozone and the Latin word “proli” which means to regenerate or re-build. It literally means re-building tissues with ozone. It is important to understand what the word prolozone actually means. “Prolo” is short for proliferation, because the treatment causes the proliferation (growth, formation) of new ligament tissue in areas where it has become weak.

Ligaments are the structural “rubber bands” that hold bones to bones in joints – acting like the body’s shock absorbers. Ligaments can become weak or injured and may not heal back to their original strength or endurance. Ligaments will also not tighten on their own to their original length once injured. This is largely because the blood supply to ligaments is limited, and therefore healing is slow and not always complete. To further complicate this, ligaments also have many nerve endings, and therefore the person will feel pain at the areas where the ligaments are damaged or loose.

We can think of our joints as the hinge on a door. Until the hinge is fixed the door just isn’t going to open or close right and it’s the same exact story with our joints. If we are athletic or if we are just getting older there is some gradual and natural degeneration of the moving parts of the body due to ongoing recurrent mechanical stress, and failure of tissues to repair. This can come from lack of nutrients, lack of circulation, aging and inflammation. When this happens the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage become dehydrated and weaker. This results in laxity and more abnormal mechanical stress and shearing forces on the joint. Abnormal shearing forces and torsion cause more joint dysfunction. This leads to a progressive separation of the ligaments from the superficial covering on the bone called the periosteum. This pulling on the periosteum creates a space, which the body fills in with new bone. These new parts of bone are called osteophytes. They are the premier signs of degenerative arthritis in & around the joint. Osteophytes and joint laxity result in a reduced range of motion, which causes strain on surrounding muscles which then become either over or under worked leading to more dysfunction & pain.

Prolozone causes repair and tightening of the lax structures, partially torn connective tissue and ligaments. Prolozone halts the pain/inflammation cycle. This allows for better circulation, increased blood flow carrying nutrition, and hydration of the damaged tissues. This allows for a healing environment within the joint to develop and results in increased range of motion and decreased pain.

Who is a candidate for this program?

Low Back Pain, Shoulder pain, Rotator Cuff Tears, Knee injuries, Individuals wanting to avoid knee and hip replacement. People having PRP and when it is indicated to prepare a joint for grafting using stem cell or PRP therapy.

Because Prolozone treatments also result in cartilage regeneration, the technique is also remarkably effective even for severe cases of osteo-arthritis of the hip or knee. The good thing about Prolozone therapy is that it is not just a treatment for pain. The results can actually represent a long term fix.

Once the doctor takes a detailed history of your injury and looks at your MRI report she will be able to tell you if Prolozone is right for you.

Conditions commonly treated with Prolozone Therapy include:

Chronic back pain
Bulging or herniated disks
Sciatica
Overused joint injuries
Weakened joints from prior injury
How does it work?

Pain will persist as long as connective tissue in a joint remains damaged. Connective tissue can be scarred, torn, or overly stretched. Prolozone injections stimulate tissue to repair itself, strengthening and tightening, and ultimately stabilizing the joint. Prolozone therapy involves the injections of ozone into soft tissues, ligaments, and tendons. This causes a localized inflammation in these weak areas, which then increases the blood supply and flow of nutrients, the stimulation of anabolic cells, fibroblasts, osteoblasts, and chondroblasts. These effects stimulate the tissue to repair itself, strengthening and tightening, and thereby stabilizing the area.

What do I have to know before I get started?

It is important that the patient use no anti-inflammatory medications before and during the 48 hours after the injection. For this same reason, areas that have been treated with steroid or cortisone injections cannot be treated with Prolozone until the injections have worn off.

What can I expect?

The response to treatment varies from individual to individual, and depends upon one’s healing ability and level of injury. Some people may only need one to two treatments, while others may need as many as six or seven. Once you being treatment, the doctor can analyze how you are responding, and will then be able to give you an accurate estimate of what you can expect from further treatments. The injection process is repeated every 1-2 weeks until maximum improvement is noted. Prolozone Therapy typically results in a complete absence of symptoms, even in severe pain conditions that have been present for years. And, the most amazing thing about it is that the results usually represent a long term fix.

Hip Resurfacing, Hip Replacement, Prolotherapy
John Lieurance, D.C.

There are a lot of options to treating your hip pain.

Hip resurfacing is not hip replacement. In hip resurfacing a metal ball replaces the bone “ball” portion at the top of the femur (thigh bone) that fits into the socket of the pelvis.

In hip replacement not only is the “ball” replaced, but the socket and a portion of the femur bone into the “greater trochanter.”

One of the main selling points for hip resurfacing is that it leaves more bone so a hip replacement can be performed later.

In our chronic pain clinic at Gecko Joint and Spine – we see this as one hip surgery setting up another. Surgery in my opinion, should always be the last option.

Is Hip Resurfacing really a less invasive technique?
According to surgeons, hip resurfacing is more difficult to perform and requires a larger incision than typical hip replacement. This increases the risk of complications.

For an athlete or worker who’s profession is physically demanding, this can mean a lot of down time.

Does hip resurfacing keep a younger patient active?
Another main selling feature for hip resurfacing as opposed to hip replacement is that studies have shown that it allows the patient to remain more active. The problem is, it is for a limited amount of time. Hip resurfacing has a life span of 15 years. After 15 years – it is hip replacement.

So if you are a young person of 45 who loves to play tennis or other demanding sports, at age 60 those days may be gone for good as your hip resurfacing needs replacement and there is just enough bone for a total hip replacement.

What are the options?
In our clinic we try to keep the patient away from surgery because once something is removed, it cannot be restored. Such as the bone removed in hip resurfacing.

We look at the problem of the hip in another way. The reason a hip procedure is needed is because there is a bone-on-bone situation causing pain and possibly impingement of soft tissue. The reason the bone on bone situation occurred was because the connective tissue in the pelvis region, the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage have shrunk, been torn, or have become weakened through “laxity.” In other words they are stretched out.

Strengthening and restoring the connective tissue, naturally, is in my opinion, the best first option.

Rejuvenating the hip
In our pain clinic we use Prolotherapy, prolozone, and PRP to revitalize weakened and damaged connective tissue. With these injections the Prolotherapy doctor hopes to mimic a new injury by causing a minor irritation at the connective sites where tendons attach to muscles, ligaments attach to bone, and also where cartilage has flatten.

The irritation caused by the Prolotherapy injection causes a controlled inflammation. In this inflammatory response the body brings the immune cells necessary to rebuild the collagen matrix-the protein blocks that soft tissue is made from.

Strengthened ligaments and tendons help hold the hip joint in its proper place cause less grinding and bone on bone. Restored collagen can help rebuild the cartilage between the pelvis and thigh bone – cushioning and relieving the bone on bone situtation.

Why remove tissue when it can be restored?