Is Prolotherapy safe?
It is very safe when administered correctly by trained physicians. Gustav Hemwall, M.D., one of the pioneers for Prolotherapy, treated more than ten thousand patients with more than four million injections without incident. “Not even a pimple” formed at injection sites, he once said. However, any medical treatment, including injections, bears a risk of adverse reactions and complications. In the case of Prolotherapy, the risk is very small. Injections are done near nerves and vessels. The injections are done directly to touch bone, which minimizes the potential damage to nerves and vessels but damage can occur. As will all medical procedures, side effects and risks can occur but rare: these include increase pain, numbness, and infection, allergic reaction to medication, weakness, headache, pneumothorax, dizziness, nausea and death.
Yes, Prolotherapy is very safe. Dr. Gustav Hemwall, who practiced Prolotherapy for forty years, treated over 10,000 patients with more than 4 million injections, without ever experiencing any serious adverse effects. Prolotherapy has been practiced safely for over 70 years. Since 1955, one fatality and four cases of substantial neurologic impairment have been reported in the medical literature (all were attributed to the use of a strongly inflammatory proliferant that Dr. Neustadt does not use). Prolotherapy is much safer than the long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (eg, Ibuprofen, Alleve, Motrin, aspirin) and analgesic (eg, Tylenol) medicines, undergoing a surgical procedure, or of enduring the effects of chronic pain on the body.
