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Question and Answer

What is regenerative injection therapy?

Regenerative injection therapy encompasses prolotherapy, perineural superficial injection, and biocellular therapies. These therapies collectively assist the body in healing previously injured tissues. They signal through molecular signaling molecules the body’s innate healing ability and at the same time turn off pain from injured tissues.

Where are regenerative injection therapies utilized?

Regenerative injection therapies (RIT), are utilized for chronic musculoskeletal pain where the body takes longer than three months to begin or complete the healing cascade. See the blue hyperlink introduction to pericytes in the reference section.

How often are these treatments required?

In general prolotherapy requires 3 to 6 treatments, done at four week intervals. Biocellular therapies, such as PRP generally require fewer treatments. In general, one PRP treatment is equivalent to 1-3 prolotherapy treatments. I utilize the simplest and least expensive therapies wherever we can. Sometimes extensive injuries revealed by history and examination make the biocellular therapies a better initial choice.

When do you use regenerative injection therapies?

Regenerative injection therapies are utilized only after a careful history and physical examination. RIT is best used for chronic musculo-skeletal injuries, where the body cannot complete the healing sequence. Generally these are painful conditions that are not improving after three months. Or physical examination reveals ligamentous injury or laxity. Sometimes the special sensing nerves (neurogenic pain) are swollen and painful. Musculo-skeletal sonography is often helpful in diagnosing these painful musculo-skeletal injuries because they can be examined with motion mimicking forces that muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves are often predisposed to.

What is superficial perineural injection?

This treatment goes by several different names. Neural prolotherapy, subcutaneous perineural injection, superficial perineural injection and deep perineural injection. It is a treatment that is directed at the special sensing nerves that are responding to an injury that cannot complete the healing system. See www.doctorliftoff.co.nz for further information.

What are biocellular therapies?

Generally prolotherapy utilizes a number of agents that signal the body to begin a healing cascade. Sometimes these therapies are effective alone. Where tissue damage is extensive and that body cannot complete the healing required, biocellular therapies provide a more extensive stimulus for the body to complete the healing cascade and distinguish pain. See Update on Biocellula  (a PowerPoint Presentation)  in the Reference section.

What’s the difference between prolotherapy and biocellular therapies?

Think of the analogy of repairing a brick wall, sometimes only mortar is needed to repair the wall. Prolotherapy is like using mortar to repair the wall. Sometimes the damage is more extensive and the structure of the wall is at risk. Think of biocellular therapy bricks as replacing the bricks therefore stabilizing the wall. Sometimes therapies are combined.

How effective are these therapies?

Regenerative injection therapies are very effective. mobilizing tissue during the remodeling phase of healing enhances tissue strength and functioning and modulates pain.  Some injuryies fail to heal because of obesity, aging, nutritional and hormonal issues. Tissue maintenance and repair has complex and integrated systems involved in repair. In general these regenerative injection therapies are in the 70 to 80% range of effectiveness.

Are there side effects to these therapies?

Generally one can expect soreness and some bruising for several days after therapy. The healing cascade initiated by prolotherapy therapy lasts 100 days after each injection. See www.drreeves.com for extensive information on what to expect with prolotherapy.

What are the costs?

See fees listed under the contact section of this website.

Are these therapies covered by insurance?

Most insurers will not cover these as they claim these therapies are experimental. That is untrue as these therapies have been used for many years and are highly effective. Sadly insurers have been slow to adopt these therapies. I cannot submit requests to insurance companies. Sadly, the majority of insurers seek to deny payment for these effective therapies

Are there studies of regenerative injection therapy?

Yes, see the website of www.drreeves.com for research and published studies. I highly recommend Dr Shiple’s book,  A New Paradigm in Healing  listed in the reference section.