Prolotherapy in Georgia: Can This Injection Therapy Help Your Joint Pain?

Joint pain has a way of turning normal Georgia days into a constant negotiation. You wake up stiff and try to “walk it off,” but the ache follows you into the kitchen, into the car, and into your workday. Driving becomes a game of finding the least painful position. Stairs feel steeper than they should. Exercise—something you want to do for your health—starts to feel like a risk instead of a release. Even everyday chores like carrying groceries, unloading the dishwasher, or doing laundry can spark that familiar thought: Is this going to flare me up again?

At Medici Orthopaedics & Spine, our focus is on finding the true pain generator and building a step-by-step plan that fits your life—prioritizing options that are effective, minimally invasive, and designed to reduce dependence on medications whenever possible.

One of the most talked-about options is prolotherapy. In simple terms, prolotherapy is an injection technique commonly using a dextrose-based solution that is placed in targeted areas (often around irritated tendons, ligaments, or joint support structures). The goal is to encourage a localized healing response over time, especially when pain may be tied to chronically irritated or weakened connective tissue.

If joint pain is interfering with your work, sleep, or ability to enjoy life in Georgia, Medici can help you sort out what’s causing it and whether options like prolotherapy belong in your plan.

What Is Prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy is an injection therapy designed to help with certain types of chronic joint and connective tissue pain. In many protocols, it uses a dextrose-based solution that’s injected into painful or weakened connective tissue—most often around ligaments, tendons, or specific joint structures.

Rather than acting like a temporary “numbing shot,” prolotherapy is intended to encourage a healing response in tissues that may have become irritated, strained, or less supportive over time. People often explore it when their pain feels like it’s coming from “support structures” that never fully bounced back after an injury, repetitive stress, or years of wear and tear.

How Prolotherapy Differs From “Numbing Shots” or Steroid Injections

It helps to separate these treatments by their main intent:

• Local anesthetic (“numbing”) injections are often used to reduce pain immediately and, in some cases, help confirm the pain source.
• Steroid injections are typically used to reduce inflammation—often helpful during an inflammatory flare, but not always ideal as a repeated long-term strategy for certain tissues.
• Prolotherapy is generally considered when the concern is that connective tissue support is part of the problem. The aim is not just symptom quieting, but promoting a local healing cascade that may improve tissue resilience over time.

Where Prolotherapy Is Performed

Prolotherapy is performed in targeted locations, which is why evaluation matters. Common targets include:

• ligament attachments around a painful joint,
• tendon insertions that are chronically irritated,
• joint support structures (depending on the joint and pain pattern).

The key is precision—placing injections where the exam and diagnosis suggest the tissue is contributing to the pain generator.

What Prolotherapy Is Trying to Address

Prolotherapy is most often discussed for pain patterns that suggest the issue isn’t only the joint surface itself, but the connective tissue that supports the joint.

This can include:

• Chronic irritation that keeps recurring despite rest and basic care
• Micro-instability (a subtle “too much motion” problem that can stress a joint even if imaging isn’t dramatic)
• Ligament laxity (support tissue that isn’t stabilizing as well as it should)
• Tendon/ligament pain generators where pain is driven by irritated attachment points or overloaded support structures

The underlying concept is simple: if a joint’s support system isn’t doing its job well, the joint can take extra strain—and the nervous system can stay on high alert. By improving the health and function of these support structures (when they’re truly the driver), some patients experience fewer flare-ups and more stable, confident movement.

How Prolotherapy Works: The Body’s Healing Response

Why Connective Tissue Matters in Joint Pain

Joints don’t function in isolation. They rely on a network of connective tissues:

• Ligaments stabilize joints and guide motion.
• Tendons connect muscle to bone and transmit force so you can move, lift, grip, squat, and climb.

After injury, repetitive stress, or long periods of altered movement (compensating for pain), these tissues can become irritated or less effective. When support tissues are “loose,” painful, or overloaded, the joint may experience more stress with everyday activity—walking, stairs, standing, reaching—leading to persistent pain and sensitivity.

The Proposed Mechanism 

Prolotherapy is thought to work by creating a localized inflammatory response at the injection site. That sounds counterintuitive—until you remember that controlled inflammation is part of how the body initiates repair.

In theory, the injected solution signals the body to:

• increase local blood flow and cellular activity,
• trigger tissue repair processes,
• and gradually improve tissue integrity and strength.

Because tissue remodeling takes time, prolotherapy is often performed as a series rather than a one-and-done treatment. The spacing allows the body to respond between sessions and can be adjusted based on how you’re improving.

What Patients May Feel After Treatment

Most people don’t walk out feeling “instantly fixed”—and that’s normal.

Common experiences after prolotherapy include:

• temporary soreness or a bruised feeling at injection sites
• a sense of fullness or stiffness around the treated area
• mild flare of symptoms for a short period as the area settles

Your clinician will usually give guidance on a recovery window and activity modifications. In general, the goal is to protect the area briefly while still staying appropriately mobile, then layer in strengthening and movement work so the tissue gains translate into better function.

Who Might Be a Good Candidate in Georgia

Common Situations Where Prolotherapy May Be Considered

Prolotherapy is typically considered when:

• you have chronic joint pain that hasn’t improved enough with physical therapy, activity modification, and basic conservative care,
• the pattern suggests ligament or tendon involvement, or an instability-like component,
• and the pain generator appears to involve support structures rather than only joint surface wear.

Examples of scenarios where it may be discussed (depending on diagnosis and exam) include:

• knee pain in selected conditions where support tissues are a key contributor
• shoulder instability-like pain patterns (a feeling of “slipping,” recurring strain, or persistent tendon/ligament irritation)
• SI joint / pelvic ligament pain patterns where the joint feels irritated with standing, stairs, or transitional movements
• chronic sprain/strain-related pain that never fully resolved and continues to flare

The “selected cases” part matters: prolotherapy is most helpful when it matches the driver of pain, not just the location of pain.

When Prolotherapy May Not Be the Right Fit

A responsible plan also includes knowing when not to use a tool.

Prolotherapy may not be appropriate when:

• there is severe joint destruction or advanced structural change where the primary issue is significant degeneration (other options may be more appropriate)
• there are medical concerns that require careful screening, such as uncontrolled systemic illness, active infection, or certain bleeding disorders
• pain is primarily nerve-driven from the spine (a different treatment pathway is usually needed—spine evaluation, targeted nerve treatments, and rehab)

Realistic Expectations: What “Success” Looks Like

A good outcome is usually measured in function, not perfection. For the right patient, prolotherapy may support:

• reduced flare-ups
• better function and stability
• improved tolerance for walking, standing, stairs, and exercise
• less reliance on medications when possible and appropriate

It’s also important to set expectations: prolotherapy tends to be gradual. Many patients notice progress over weeks to months, especially when treatment is paired with a plan that restores strength, mobility, and movement confidence.

Explore Prolotherapy Options for Joint Pain Relief in Georgia

You don’t have to accept joint pain as “just aging,” and you don’t have to live on temporary fixes that only get you through the week. If pain is limiting your ability to work, sleep, exercise, or enjoy time with the people you love, it’s a sign your body deserves a closer look—not just another round of pushing through.

At Medici Orthopaedics & Spine, we take a modern, patient-centered approach focused on identifying the real pain generator and building a plan that’s effective, least invasive, and as least drug-dependent as possible. For the right candidate, prolotherapy may be one option to support tissue healing and improve stability and function—especially when symptoms are tied to tendon/ligament irritation or subtle instability patterns rather than a single short-term flare.

If you’re ready for answers, schedule an evaluation with the Medici team to determine whether your joint pain is coming from joint degeneration, tendon or ligament irritation, instability patterns, or another source—and then choose the stepwise plan that best fits your goals.

Contact Medici Orthopaedics & Spine

• Website: https://www.mediciortho.com/
• Main Phone: +1-844-328-4624

Clinics

Kennesaw

2911 George Busbee Parkway, Suite 50

Kennesaw, GA 30144

(770) 545-6404

Snellville

2220 Wisteria Drive, Unit 101

Snellville, GA 30078

(470) 645-9297

Buckhead PM&R

3200 Downwood Circle, NW, Suite 520

Atlanta, GA 30327

(770) 872-7549