INJECTIONS FOR PLANTAR FASCIITIS

Do you have heel pain or find it hard to stand & walk in the mornings? Well this may be your solution. Prolotherapy is an innovative injection technique developed in 1930s as an effective treatment for treating most chronic injuries- including plantar fasciitis. It is an elegant refinement of the centuries-old sclerotherapy which produced scar tissue to stabilise joints and relieve pain.

The body has an amazing ability to heal itself, however due to ligaments, tendons, and cartilage having a poor blood supply relative to other tissues; they can be slow to heal. But with prolotherapy, it’s as if you’re tricking your plantar fascia into healing itself. Prolotherapy involves injecting deposits of a solution of dextrose (sugar water) and local anaesthetic around the plantar fascia to act as a local irritant to cause low-grade and local inflammation at these tissues- this then triggers the healing cascade.

This increases protein and collagen formation, and thereby increases cell proliferation (replication). Prolotherapy also increases the infiltration of white blood cells and macrophages as well as stimulating the body to produce platelet-derived growth factors and interleukin-1β (chemical building blocks). All of these processes work to improve plantar fascia strength, mass, thickness and a trend toward an increase in cell number which increases function and reduces pain.

Injection therapy Help for Plantar Fasciitis

Prolotherapy injections are usually administered once every 2 weeks, for approximately 3 sessions, depending on the type, and severity, of the condition. Due to the treatment causing a local inflammatory response, symptoms may increase for up to 48 hours after the treatment. During this 48 hour period, it is generally recommended to cease any excessive physical exercise. After this brief window, physical activities and any physical therapies provided by your clinician can, and should, be continued.

For the duration of the course of treatment, anti-inflammatory medication such as VoltarenTM and NurofenTM should not be used as this will reduce the local reaction that is being encouraged. Usually, standard “off the shelf” paracetamol such as PanadolTM tablets may be used to successfully control pain levels.