Prolotherapy Offered at Our Office in San Francisco

Dr. Irène Minkowsky has pioneered specialized techniques in prolotherapy.

Dr. Irene Minkowski demonstrates how to inject a patient via prolotherapy

She uses proliferative injections with a unique expertise to provide ground breaking regenerative treatments and has been helping patients with this approach for over 30 years. She is by far one of San Francisco’s most experienced prolotherapy doctors.

Dr. Irene was fantastic. She was so kind and thoughtful. She really took her time to fully understand the situation and anything that could be related. She helped me so much and I got back to normal! – Xander via Google Maps

A proliferative injection uses dextrose, which acts as an irritant and lidocaine, an anesthetic, to create a temporary inflammation to repair and strengthen injured ligaments and tendons. This increases blood supply, nutrients and growth factor to the injured tissue. Repairing fibroblasts are attracted by the inflammation and form new connective tissue.

Technique:

Osteopathic manipulation pre-injection is helpful to restore proper joint function. Use of a local analgesic skin spray anesthetizes the area.

Daily stretching home exercises are taught. Three to six injections are usually needed. Touch up injections may be required for residual pain spots.

Ice and anti-inflammatory medication should be avoided during the injection series. Tylenol (acetaminophen) and heat can be used instead.

Benefits:

Prolotherapy emulates the body’s natural injury response. It increases the nutrients and blood supply to an injured area which stimulates tissue repair. These injections have shown benefits in helping heal ligaments, tendons, connective tissue, joint capsules, cartilage and other weakened or injured body parts.

Our SF prolotherapy services use nonsurgical treatment to resolve musculoskeletal problems.

Are you tired of living with chronic pain caused by tendon injuries, muscle strains, and ligament instability? Have you been searching for a non-surgical treatment option for chronic low back or joint pain? Prolotherapy, through injection of hypertonic dextrose, effectively stimulates collagen production and promotes tissue repair. Prolotherapy is a regenerative medicine technique that harnesses the body’s natural healing factors using dextrose (sugar) injections as a stimulant.

Originally developed by Earl Gedney, DO in the 1930’s and used extensively by George Hackett M.D. and G.A. Hemwall M.D. in the 1950’s, prolotherapy causes irritation in tissues leading to increased fibroblast activity and the development of new fibrous tissue that repairs ligaments and tendons that are no longer totally functional after chronic injury. The treatment involves injecting a solution, hypertonic dextrose, or other natural substances such as platelet rich plasma (PRP), into the affected area to stimulate the body’s healing response. Dextrose is a readily available, totally benign solution (sugar).

It is used effectively to treat chronic pain due to tendon injuries and muscle sprains, ligament sprains, tendonitis and sports injuries. It is also helpful in individuals with hypermobility and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS).

A wonderful, kind, caring and knowledgeable physician. She is definitely a person to trust with your care. She will do her best to heal you. – Mariana F. via Yelp

How Prolotherapy Works

Prolo comes from the Latin word proli which means offspring; to proliferate. When a dextrose solution is injected into the injured or painful area, it triggers a localized inflammatory response. This inflammation signals the body to send healing factors and immune cells to the site, promoting tissue repair and collagen production. Over time, this process strengthens the affected ligaments, tendons, and muscles, reducing pain and improving function.

Dr. Irène Minkowsky was a pioneer in the Bay Area to first use prolotherapy and has successfully been treating her patients using prolotherapy for over 35 years. Her results are similar to those of Dr. Hackett with an over 90% success rate in improvement in pain and function.

Benefits of Prolotherapy

  • Chronic Pain Relief: Prolotherapy offers long-lasting relief from chronic pain by promoting tissue repair of chronically strained tendons or ligaments.
  • Non-Surgical Treatment: Unlike traditional surgical interventions, prolotherapy is a non-invasive treatment option that can effectively manage a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.
  • Inflammation Management: By stimulating a controlled inflammatory response, prolotherapy helps to manage chronic inflammation and promote healing.
  • Tissue Repair: The regenerative effects of prolotherapy help to repair damaged tissues and improve overall function.
  • Collagen Production: Collagen is essential for the strength and flexibility of ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Prolotherapy stimulates collagen production, enhancing tissue integrity.

The History of Prolotherapy

The Ancient Romans reportedly poked hot needles into the shoulders of injured gladiators, thousands of years ago. Since time immemorial, humankind has been interested in the concept of encouraging the body’s natural healing process by provoking it with some type of irritation.

It was in 1840, however, that a French anatomist wrote a medical paper chronicling his efforts to create a beneficial inflammation in patients with hernias by injecting them with an iodine solution. An American surgeon announced shortly afterward that he had been administering a similar procedure for years. More medical professionals began to come out of the woodwork detailing their own uses of this earliest form of prolotherapy.

Similar methods became common practice in the 1920s to treat things like varicose veins, as well as the lymphoid and circulatory systems. Over the next few decades, injections were being used to treat hernias and joint instability. By the 1950s, physician George S. Hackett found himself at the forefront of medical professionals employing the technique. He coined the term “prolotherapy” in his book, Ligament and Tendon Relaxation, that he wrote in 1956.

In the decades since, studies have assigned a Level A recommendation for Achilles tendinopathy and knee osteoarthritis.[1] Level A recommendations indicate that the study found consistent and quality patient-oriented evidence for the treatment. Additional studies have shown more support for prolotherapy’s ability to aid with tendinitis.[2]

For over 35 years, Dr. Irène Minkowsky has successfully been using prolotherapy with a combination of dextrose and lidocaine to create a regenerative tissue effect in her patients’ ligaments. This process allows the formation of new, connective tissue. The treatment is one of many therapeutic approaches that she employs in her approach to patients at the Physicians’ Back Institute in San Francisco.

Learn more about the costs of proliferative injections and the process in general.