PROLOTHERAPY VS. CORTISONE

By Fred G. Arnold, DC, NMD

Many patients are confused when it comes to treating painful joint conditions with cortisone versus prolotherapy. It must be understood that cortisone and prolotherapy are not the same treatment and the effects of each are dramatically different.

Cortisone, like prednisone is a corticosteroid and has numerous adverse and harmful side effects on bone, joint and soft tissue healing. Actually prolotherapy compared to cortisone has many opposite effects for the treatment of ligament, bone and soft tissues and is a safe and recommended treatment for painful musculoskeletal conditions. I have included a table that summarizes the differences between cortisone and prolotherapy:

PROLOTHERAPY VS. CORTISONE

Cortisone shots can permanently damage bones, ligaments, muscles, cartilage and tendons resulting in a weakening of the joint and resultant degenerative joint disease (DJD), or osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fractures and muscle weakness. This structurally weakens the joint, increases the production of more pain, more cortisone shots and eventually surgery.

Many orthopedic physicians and doctors treat musculoskeletal and sports injuries with cortisone injections to relieve pain associated with their condition as a “quick fix”. The unsuspecting athlete returns to the playing field thinking their painful condition is cured when it is actually weakened by the cortisone injection. As a result, many athletics overstress their weakened joint resulting in permanent damage that leads to chronic use of pain medications. Cortisone can cause tendon rupture, particularly of the achilles tendon.

Prolotherapy is a proven orthopedic treatment to reduce pain and strengthen weakened joints without the negative side effects of cortisone.