Function Is the patient’s ability to function in activities of daily living improved? Is the patient able to perform previously painful activities without pain? Is the person able to do things that he/she could not do prior to Prolotherapy? Patients are typically advised to continue to receive Prolotherapy treatments until able to stably perform that certain function pain and cracking-free. For example, if a patient can now climb two flights of stairs without knee pain after Prolotherapy, whereas prior to the Prolotherapy this would cause excruciating pain, then we know that Prolotherapy is helping improve function.

Strength Ligament and tendon injury may cause muscle strength to decline. When a person receives Prolotherapy, one of the noticeable effects of the treatment is that strength improves in the injected areas.

Pain is one of the most common reasons patients receive Prolotherapy. Thus, a noticeable decrease in pain shows the benefit of successful Prolotherapy.

Stiffness Patients commonly experience stiffness upon morning rising or after performing a certain activity. This stiffness is commonly felt in the lower back or neck, but could involve any area of the body. A great sign that Prolotherapy is working is that stiffness has subsided. Once Prolotherapy helps stabilize the area involved, the muscles no longer have to provide this stability so they relax. Once they relax, the stiffness subsides.

Imaging such as X-rays and MRIs are poor indicators that Prolotherapy is working, the reason being that most ligaments do not show up well on these tests. Some improvements from Prolotherapy can be seen with x-rays and MRI’s, but it isn’t always necessary or advantageous to rely solely on those indicators due to their high incidence of inaccuracies.