I have seen Dr. Peterson for 4 different conditions. When I stumbled on the 1* review I see here, I was strongly moved to let people know what great experiences I've had. First I have to say that both Dr. P and his entire staff have been amazing. He was always very kind and every time has taken as much time to explain the process and procedure as I needed. He himself has had a lot of experience with prolo both personally and professionally;he is an avid kite boarder who has had very serious injuries while kite boarding, bad knee injuries, and even a terrible incident where he injured his pelvis, with his sacrum tearing completely away, and he damaged soft tissues in his hip joint. He was able to heal each of these with PRP and continues to kite board. He even has trouble remembering which hip it was. He's so committed to prolo that he travels the world leading teaching seminars for other doctors. I myself have had outstanding results. Prolotherapy makes a lot of sense to me. I'm amazed more people haven't heard of it, though you do hear that professional athletes are turning to injection therapy using stem cells to more rapidly heal their injuries. I own a pet supply store, and have had several customers using prolotherapy for knee injuries in their dogs with great results. Since the mid 80s, research on prolotherapy effects has accelerated and the number and methodological quality of studies assessing prolo. have increased dramatically, actually. Here's why it makes such sense to me: tendons and ligaments don't have a great blood supply, so they're hard to heal. It's normal for people who sprain an ankle to continue to have recurrent sprains, etc. By proliferating those torn connective tissues in the right way, even just with dextrose, it causes fresh blood supply to rush to the area, rich in fibroblasts (the cells responsible for healing and creating the structural framework for connective tissues). It's a process that gets the body to better heal itself, so it takes some time after treatment. It is a little uncomfortable (but Dr. P has taken the process from "very painful" down to "somewhat uncomfortable with little moments of 'yikes' that quickly pass") by using anesthetic mixed in the solution he uses. More serious injuries can be treated with PRP which uses your own platelets which contain more concentrated healing factors. Compared to invasive surgeries it's a walk in the park. Prolo creates some bruising and sometimes some swelling, and the first day or so after the treatment I've been pretty sore. It's best to stay home for the first day right after treatment to sit on the couch with a heating pad.
I'll say that I believe that this procedure works best for injuries, and some chronic back type pain might or might not be as helped by this procedure. The first time I saw him it was for 10 years of chronic sacrum pain. I realized after a number of procedures, including PRP, that my pain really wasn't for any sort of structural problem I had. I stumbled on a book by Dr. Sarno called "Healing Back Pain" that changed my life. Go to Amazon and read about it. I don't blame the PRP. I just spent money I didn't need to spend because my problem was not really a defect or injury. I then had a problem developing in my right thumb - nerve pain due to repetitive movement. One regular prolo treatment absolutely stopped the pain almost immediately and it never returned.
In 2016 I sprained both ankles. My right ankle was blown and the left one was also damaged. I tried to let it heal on its own, but finally I went for two treatments, a month apart. He uses ultrasound first - he's able to visualize tears and areas of inflammation and target them exactly. The recovery felt slow. (It's hard to stay off your feet). It took several months from beginning to end. Now, my ankles are 110%. Amazing. This year I developed elbow problems in both arms. The right one was the worst & I had few attachments that were really jacked up. I also had terrible radiating pain that ran up and down my arm I couldn't do simple things like pick up a a pint glass. With the ultrasound he was able to see that the inflammation at one attachment had been so bad for so long in one spot that it had caused changes in the bone. As he injected me he could feel that the bone had really softened. A nerve in my right arm was so inflamed he said it was like a guitar string he could strum. He injected it with dextrose (some nerves are highly responsive to dextrose) and by the next morning, I woke up without pain in my arm for the first time in many months. What a huge relief!! I was able to rest my arms much more effectively than my ankles & by the 4th week, I felt great and started experimenting with activities - I weeded for 30 min. & pruned a bush with a hedge trimmer. Wow!I just had my 2nd treatment 4 days ago - he was able to see positive changes in the bone. We're both pretty sure I won't need another treatment for this issue. I'm thrilled! read more