Prolotherapy Melbourne – The foot pain relief clinic
What is Prolotherapy?
Prolotherapy involves the injection of a natural substance (proliferant) into weakened or damaged tissue /structures, which stimulates an inflammatory response (the body’s natural healing mechanism). This response is the first phase in healing damaged structures. Our bodies are designed to survive. We are built to adapt. We are made to heal!
PROLOTHERAPY is a procedure preformed by podiatrists and medical practitioners who have had specialized training in this technique.
How did Prolotherapy get it’s start?
The procedure is over 80 years old and was first described by George Hackett, MD.
Dr. Hacket was a trauma surgeon in Ohio and noticed that injecting the proliferant solution increased the thickness of ligaments and set out to study its effects. He started injecting patients in attempt to help them. He studied thousands of patients with an approximately 90% success rate. He published his first book in 1956 entitled “Ligament and Tendon Relaxation Treated by Prolotherapy”.
One of his students was Dr. Gustav Hemwall, MD who carried the torch of prolotherapy from the 1950’s to the 1990’s and did a lot for propagating prolotherapy. He started the Hacket-Hemwall Foundation in 1969 to help others worldwide. It is a procedure approved by the American Osteopathic Association of Prolotherapy Integrative Pain Medicine.
Prolotherapy was endorsed by US former surgeon General C. Everett Koop as a very effective treatment for musculoskeletal injuries including arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, joint instability and more.
The Hackett Hemwall Foundation is recognised as the leading provider of Prolotherapy education in the United States.
Carol A. Thomson, our chief podiatrist, has been involved in prolotherapy since 2011 after attending one of Dr Margaret Taylor’s workshops in Adelaide.
Carol was so impressed with prolotherapy and its effectiveness, she traveled to the Hackett Hemwall Foundation at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to attend one of their annual Hands on Prolotherapy Conferences. Carol is now well experienced in prolotherapy treament having given many thousands of injections.
Carol Thomson teaches the Hackett-Hemwall technique to Podiatrists at her clinic in Frankston.
Prolotherapy for Foot Pain
Prolotherapy is used as a conservative treatment for foot pain. Since most orthopedic injuries involve damage to the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. Just about all musculoskeletal injuries can be treated with Prolotherapy. Bursitis, tendonitis, sprains, strains, will most likely improve and potentially be CURED with prolotherapy.
Examples include:
- Ankle sprains/strains
- Plantar fasciitis and heel pain
- Achilles tendonitis
Complete ligament tears and fractures do not respond to prolotherapy unless surgery or immobilization is performed first.
Complications are rare. Since prolotherapy is an injection treatment the risks are no different than other common injection therapies. Surgery has far greater risks. Prolotherapy is an ideal treatment to use before non-emergency surgeries are performed. The injections utilize natural substances such as high concentration dextrose (sugar). Steroids like cortisone are NOT used.
You can make an appointment with Dr Carol A. Thomson (Podiatrist) to discuss if prolotherapy would be a suitable treatment for you. Your first visit will involve a physical examination and review of your history and the generation of a treatment plan. An appointment for treatment, if prolotherapy would be of benefit, is scheduled at this time.
Carol Thomson is the only Hackett Hemwall Foundation ( University of Wisconsin, Madison) trained podiatrist in Australia.
Material on this site should not be used as a basis for treatment decisions, and is not a substitute for professional consultation.