Foot Pain Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy has been proven successful in healing many types of pain, including foot pain. This section goes over what to expect when receiving prolotherapy foot pain treatments, and some common conditions affecting the foot that respond well to prolotherapy.
The first step of receiving prolotherapy treatment to the foot is applying an anesthetic. This helps decrease the pain associated with injecting the needle on top of the pain reducing agent that will be injected during the shot. This is to ensure maximum comfort for you, the patient. The needle is injected in the area of the heel. A more precise analysis tells us that the area being penetrated is where the spring ligament, the ligament that creates the arch of the foot, meets the heel bone. Prolotherapy foot injections stimulate an inflammatory response in that area to strengthen that ligament and regenerate soft tissues in the foot.
It is common for Dr. Darrow to prescribe the use of a walking boot to encourage fast healing after receiving prolotherapy foot treatments. The way that we walk causes full weight of the body to continually impact the heel of the foot, therefore stretching the ligaments and preventing smooth healing. The boot keeps the foot in a neutral position, allowing the limb to heal without any distractions or obstacles.
Prolotherapy foot injections have proven successful in treating plantar fasciitis, which is a painful foot condition associated with excessive standing, walking, or running on hard surfaces. This condition causes the arch of the foot to collapse, causing the patient to feel excessive pain on the bottom of the foot, near the heel. Plantar fasciitis patients may want a custom molded orthopedic boot to ensure healthy regeneration of the arch.
Many patients come into the office having been misdiagnosed with Morton’s neuroma. This condition affects the toe area, and is caused by nerves getting entangled at the base of the foot or in between the toes. Most often the problems associated with Morton’s neuroma are actually symptoms of metatarsalgia, which is a simple inflammation of the same area. Metatarsalgia has also been very successfully treated with prolotherapy foot injections.
It would be impossible to name every foot condition that responds to prolotherapy, but these are some common conditions that have been relieved by this procedure. In general, if it’s possible to touch the prolotherapy needle to a bone, it’s possible to experience regenerative healing through prolotherapy.
When I perform Prolotherapy treatments on the foot, depending on the area, I often prescribe a walking boot for faster healing.
The reason for this is that the body’s weight continually impacts the forces on the foot and stretches it as we walk, often blocking a quick healing. The walking boot keeps the foot in a neutral position and stops the stretching motion that causes the inflammation and the foot pain.
Plantar Fasciitis is a painful foot problem associated with excessive standing or walking, or running on hard surfaces. The arch of the foot is often collapsed, especially if the patient is overweight. The pain is most often felt on the bottom of the foot near the front of the heel bone.
A good start in healing this inflammatory problem is to have us mold orthotics specifically for your foot (not off the shelf) to create a good arch support.
Prolotherapy for Plantar Fasciitis
In conjunction with orthotics, I often use Prolotherapy injections to treat foot pain, I inject 3 cc of dextrose and lidocaine after spraying the area to be injected with a coolant to numb the skin.
The needle is very thin and is tolerated well. For complete healing of foot pain, it often takes about 4 injections over a period of a month, and results do vary depending on the patient’s activity level.
Another common foot pain problem is the improper diagnosis of Morton’s Neuroma. I have yet to see an actual case of a nerve entanglement between the toes or at the base of the balls of the foot bones near the toes.
The real problem is most often Metatarsalgia, which very simply is inflammation of the same area. The Prolotherapy that I do in that area is with a 30 gauge needle that is similar to an acupuncture needle. The cold spray is also used to numb the area, and a walking boot is often prescribed for quicker healing.
There are many other foot problems that are healed with Prolotherapy. Basically, if I can touch a needle to bone, Prolotherapy is the answer.
