DO PROLOTHERAPY INJECTIONS HURT THAT MUCH?
Ross Hauser, M.D.

As the saying goes with body builders, it also goes with Prolotherapy, "no pain, no gain." Shots are shots. "Do they hurt?" every new patient asks, as sweat begins to form on the patient's forehead and palms as the needle approaches its target. All doctors were probably taught the appropriate answer to this question in medical school. "It hurts a little." Does anything the doctor sticks you with really hurt just a little? 

Some people have many Prolotherapy injections and do not flinch, while others receive a few shots and have a rough time. 
 

The amount of pain experienced during the Prolotherapy treatment is insignificant compared to the pain the chronic pain patient experiences every day. Many say after the Prolotherapy treatment, "It wasn't that bad." There are a few people, however, who need help in receiving Prolotherapy. 
 

In order to assist those patients who find Prolotherapy painful, the physician may give the patient anesthesia or a prescription for Tylenol with codeine or Vicodin to be taken prior to Prolotherapy treatments . Other physicians, like Ross, may use a device called Madajet which sprays an anesthetic such as lidocaine into the skin to deaden the pain when the needle pierces the skin. The needle piercing through the skin is the most painful part of the procedure. 
 

For those requiring injections in many areas at one time or in very delicate areas like the neck, intravenous anesthesia such as Demerol, a narcotic, is used. 
 

The intravenous anesthesia is the most dangerous part of the procedure. An occasional nausea and a few "upchucks" were the only side effects. The anesthesia does make a person "woozy" but most people prefer it because it eliminates the pain of the procedure. For the most part, the procedure is completed in a matter of minutes and requires nothing for pain. 
 

Ninety-nine percent of our patients receive the treatments without pain killers and do just fine. 

We have lots of things to help you during the procedures too - such as stress balls to squeeze, soothing music to listen to with headphones, hot packs, and of course, kind assistants in the room with you to offer you a hand to hold.