It’s been a little over a MINUTE since I last delved into the somewhat barbaric treatments I’ve been getting on my knee and ankle joints in an effort to finally — FINALLY — experience a pain-free day, so here I am, at the six-month mark, to give you an update.
As a little background, I am a fragile little piece of shit. I have been injured consistently since December of 2015, and have had to put dreams of running marathons around the world, competing in Boston, and generally just being fit and having some semblance of muscle tone on hold since then. The injuries came out of the blue, starting because I wore flats to walk to work every day and then progressing to different parts of my body because of overcompensating and incompetent physical therapists. Ultimately, I ended up with a degenerated peroneal tendon in my ankle and a torn medial meniscus in my knee.
I’ve run 5 marathons without issue and ran track and cross country in both high school and college (also relatively without issue), so the chronic injury thing is pretty new to me. After being explicitly told by some asshole doctors that I would not run again, I raised my middle fingers to traditional medicine and took to the interwebs to research alternative treatments. Because I’m sorry, I refuse to accept that a conservative runner in her mid-20s is going to be confined to the accursed stationary bike for the rest of time. Not only was I not okay with it, but I didn’t even believe it in my stubborn little brain. It is 2017, if I’m not mistaken.
The research turned out some promising stuff. Prolotherapy is a leading new alternative treatment for joint regeneration, which works to actually stimulate the body’s natural healing process rather than cutting out pieces of your tissue as they do in surgery (and also boasting a much higher success rate than the surgery route). My original post here details a little bit more about my findings, and how I ended up making a trip every 4-6 weeks to Oak Park, Illinois to get the shit stabbed out of my leg joints again and again and pay thousands of dollars to subject myself to it.
At this point, I have had 5 treatments. That’s 10 treatments total, five on each of my left ankle and my left knee joint. I also got treatment on my right knee and ankle once because I could feel my joints loosening as my right leg got sick and tired of bearing the brunt of my weight for over a year. Do not ever, EVER overcompensate, I beg of you. It has turned what could have been a four month injury into an 18 month injury and destroyed my spirit and my soul.
Four of the treatments were prolotherapy and PRP in the same session, and the last treatment was prolotherapy on its own. Prolotherapy is the injection of a solution into a joint to cause inflammation, activating the body’s healing process. The solution is injected about 50 times total per joint, both inside the tissue and around the tissue, sometimes with the guidance of an ultrasound wand, to maximize inflammation. PRP is a complimentary, more aggressive treatment: the process of drawing blood, spinning it in the centrifuge to concentrate the plasma’s platelets, which contain growth factors that aid in natural healing, and injecting the highly concentrated plasma back into and around the tissue as well.
Were those sessions a hunky dory ole time? Omg hell no. Did it sometimes hurt so badly that I wanted to blow chunks all over my sweet Midwestern prolotherapist? Hell yes. This is honestly not a walk in the park. They numb you a bit with some of this numbing cream and a little bit of a numbing injection, but you still feel those bitch needles crunching into your tendons over and over and you close your eyes and thank them profusely for doing it afterwards. Because theoretically, this is how you heal.
One Month Later
It was actually difficult to return to Chicago for my second treatment, because the first treatment seemed to do nothing but make the injuries worse. Even after five weeks, my knee and ankle were still noticeably fat, and I could feel my knee lock occasionally if I stepped at the wrong angle. The joints felt really unstable and swollen, and I figured that maybe I wasn’t part of the 90% of patients whose lives are bettered by prolotherapy. Maybe it was a bad idea. Maybe my body’s inflammatory reaction is outside the realm of what is normal for healthy humans.
Seriously, they tell you that after about four or five days, your joints will start to feel normal again. The inflammation will fade away and you’ll be able to return to normal activity. Two weeks after my first treatment I went to Philadelphia to spend Halloween with my friend Annie and could barely walk the next day because my ankle was so swollen from the bar crawl. For weeks I felt nothing but sharp, horrendous pain in my joints, worse than even before I had gotten treated. It was discouraging, but I decided to go back anyways.
Four Months Later
After several more treatments, I started feeling better. My body recovered faster after visiting Chicago and I was starting to feel closer to normal. Finally, three weeks after my third treatment, I was given the go ahead to start running again.
OMFG! HALLELUJAH! I CAN HEAR THE ANGELS SING!
I shuffled out of that appointment grinning through the pain of the treatment, already imagining feeling the fresh air in my lungs as I pounded the pavement for the first time in who knows how long. THIS is what was going to make it all worth it. Running again. The one thing I’ve always loved more than anything in the world.
The weeks after my third treatment were also the first weeks where I could walk long distances without a lot of pain, if any at all. I hiked Camelback in Phoenix, Arizona. Limping from bar to bar on Saturday nights was a thing of the past. Coming home after work and crying because I couldn’t remember what it felt like to not be in pain was no longer a daily tradition. I could feel my joints getting stronger.
At this point, my right leg was starting to flare up in both the knee and the ankle, so again, let me stress: if you decide to go through with these treatments, please, for the love of all that is holy, maintain your natural stride. It is tempting to limp to keep the weight off of your affected leg (because let’s face it, that treatment did not come cheap), but DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT. Overcompensation is the dirtiest word in the English language, as far as I’m concerned.
By February, I was able to run on the soft trail for several minutes at a time. I ran nearly two miles one day and went home with happy tears. You forget how much you miss running when you’re not allowed to do it in fear of your entire leg tearing off at the knee.
One day I was sitting on my yoga mat, my legs tucked under me, paying bills on my laptop. After about ten minutes I stood up and felt searing pain in my left knee. For the next two weeks I was feeling more pain there than I had in months. Are you fuxking kidding me, you idiot meniscus? I let my guard down for ten minutes and you go and reinjure yourself, you worthless piece of cartilage. Needless to say, I was beside myself. Obviously, the persistent inflammation issue was still just that. An issue.
My prolotherapist told me that the knee was not presenting in such a way that suggested reinjury, and thought it may be that the nerves are overly sensitive in that region, which was treatable (she then rattled off some stuff they would be adding to my prolotherapy solution that went over my head because medical jargon basically always goes over my head). She performed prolotherapy and recommended I start working to strengthen the glutes. Nothing like being injured for 18 months to absolutely obliterate what was once your most prized body part. RIP to all those nice butt compliments from cute albeit thirsty boys.
Six Months Later
It has been six months. I won’t say I am better, or that I am running much at all, but I notice a definite difference in the joint pain. The “resting pain” I felt chronically six months ago, the pain that pulsed in my joints even when I was just sitting there, is no longer an issue. I am able to walk for long distances easily. The other day I walked almost the entire length of Manhattan and woke up the next day with nothing but sore feet. My joints feel stronger than they have in a long time.
For financial reasons and because of the continued inflammation in my joints, which I am working to get under control with KT tape and ice, I am not going back to the Chicago area for further treatments for now. I am going to ride it out, keep cross-training, and ease myself into running as carefully as I can.
Words of wisdom from a 25-year-old with the worst joints known to man
I went into my prolotherapy treatments expecting it to be a miracle cure. Countless athletes have taken to online message boards to rave about prolotherapy and how it saved them from their chronic injuries and the accompanying deep, dark depression. I expected it to work wonders for me.
And I am healing, don’t get me wrong. I certainly can feel a difference. But this shit takes time. It literally takes months and months. You can still be healing even a year later! I am convinced that whoever wrote that they were healed and exercising like they haven’t exercised in 30 years after ONE TREATMENT probably were never that injured to begin with.
So, to use an over-used-yet-very-applicable cliché, patience is a virtue.
Additionally, I think a big part of my issue is diet. I have never eaten very healthy, prioritizing buying cheap food over buying good food. Things like refined sugars, eggs, salt, red meats, and beer do not support joint health (I am weeping over the beer thing, by the way. Beer lover for life). Beans, green leafy vegetables, fatty fish, and nuts all support joint health (basically all the things I avoid at all costs, until recently).
If you are a female, your birth control could also be causing you joint pain, as estrogen is a collagen blocker. Your joints are made up of collagen (among other things) so estrogen is not your friend here. I’ve been having joint pain for 18 months, the pain starting only shortly after I started a new pill. Thank you to all my doctors who failed to mention the evils of estrogen prior to this. Appreciate it!
And obviously, water is essential. Water is often enough to halt joint pain in its tracks, and people in general do not drink enough water to maintain optimal health. So drink your water.
I have had a positive experience with prolotherapy thus far. It has not been an easy road by any means, and there have been times I’ve questioned the effectiveness. The treatments alone are not going to heal you miraculously. You have to want to heal yourself, and actively take care of yourself as you recover. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, and guess what? Neither are your shitty, degenerated joints.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions about these treatments, running injuries in general, or just to say hi!
Hi Robin,
Like you, I’m an avid fitness junkie and had been doing HIIT training 4 days per week, weights, hiking, walking, interval training, yoga – you name it. I just like to move. However, 2 years ago, just after summiting Annapourna base camp in Nepal, I developed severe pain shooting through my right knee and had to get air lifted out. I later found out that this was IT band syndrome both from over training in the lead up, and probably all those prior years of treating my body like an absoloute machine! When I got back to Australia, I was treated with an injection to the site, and the doc found I had arthritis in both hips as a result of them not forming properly as a teen (again, from excess exercise like a kiwi-tomboy).
I put up for it for a few years, just changing my exercise regime until I couldn’t put up with the pain any longer.
Two years on, I’ve just had my first PRP injection into my hip post arthroscopy and cleaning out some nasty early onset arthritis (I’m 37). The moment after the injection I had a surge in pain, and didn’t sleep much of that night. The pain was still high the next day, but slowly subsided over the following two, only to wake me up in the middle of the night again 5 days post injection. I went back to my surgeon, had an MRI which showed no sign of fluid/blood around the site, and my blood tests are clear of infection. He gave me pain killers and told me to go back on celebrix (anti inflammatory’s) and the last night (day 6) I woke up at 3am with pain, took pain killers, and again just before 7:30 with the worst pain I can ever remember experiencing – worse than before!
I usually have a high pain threshold, so something definitely feels off, but your story is the encouragement I needed to read to day giving me a glimmer of hope that perhaps it’s just the healing crises pre regeneration.
Thanks for sharing your story, as there is little to no information about the bad side effects of PRP or first hand experiences.
Sending love,
Monique Elouise
Hey Robin,
Thanks for sharing your articles. Also the way you write is pretty hilarious! I’ve been dealing with a sesamoid injury for about a year (I read your post on that too) did you do the prolotherapy for your foot too or just your knee & ankle? You mention that KT tape & prescription anti inflammatories really helped you-may I inquire, when you started taping your foot & taking pain medication, about how much were you walking every day? What was the thing that finally pushed you into that final stage of healing? I’ve got orthotics, hoka shoes, a bone stimulator and have been to so many doctors and yes, I also think most podiatrists suck lol. Any feedback would be so appreciated!
Thanks,
Melissa
Hi Robin,
First off, let me say that I LOVE your article! Much respect to you for being so real, about everything! I just had my first round of Prolotherapy injections. While my doctor told me ” I had them, and was pain free the next day”, while I have been in much worse pain that before the injections. Your description of the pain made me feel sane, and I will tell you why. The doctors not only made me feel as though I should have miraculously healed instantly, but also looked at me with tilted heads when I told them that this was by far, the single most painful procedure I had ever had. And I have had MANY! Everywhere I read, the articles stated that the doctors should do 3-5 injections, however my doctor did over 15 in and around my right knee. Does that seem excessive to you? This man hummed while literally stabbing me repeatedly, causing me so much pain that my body was involuntarily shaking for 5 minutes afterwards. Is this the way you were treated or do I have a “Butcher” for a doctor. I thank you in advance for your time, if you can answer those questions, I would be super grateful! It’s been 3 years, I’ve done it all including major spine surgery, and I don’t want to waste another day in a doctors office, with this kind of pain, if I don’t have to.
Hi Jason! I think everyone responds differently to prolotherapy and the pain, but I don’t believe people who say that they are better overnight. It took me several months, but it did eventually get better, and I noticed a huge improvement after several sessions. I think my doctor did like 50 injections in and around the knee, which, from my understanding, is how the inflammation/healing process is triggered. If you have another couple of sessions and don’t notice any real improvement, it may not be for you. However, I definitely found success, as did a really good friend of mine 🙂
I’m 22 years old and currently getting prolotherapy on my ankle. I’ve had chronic ankle instability for a long time, my body is imbalanced because my foot overpronates. I’ve only done prolotherapy twice so far, I doubt it at times because some days I feel better and other days I feel worse. It’s also expensive which sucks. But your article is encouraging to read, basically your saying I should continue and remain patient right? Also, do you think physiotherapy can help? I wanna play basketball again, I miss it so much!
I did have to do about 5 treatments total before I started feeling ready to get back into running on a regular basis. It is definitely not an overnight/miracle fix, but I don’t think I’d be where I am without it! I have personally not done a lot of PT but I know it is very helpful in addressing the root of the issue that caused the injury!
Two years ago I had prolotherapy in my right knee. Just last week, I realized my discomfort and pain has gone from an 8 to a 1 or 2. I am more than happy as I had given up and was looking at another stem cell therapy with fat tissue and blood. I can now walk my dog around the block with very little discomfort. Is it possible that two years later, it is the prolotherapy that worked?
Actually, yes! From what I understand, the tissues continue to heal for months and even years after the prolotherapy treatments! It’s such a cool thing. So glad your pain is better! 🙂
It’s been 6 weeks for me after prolotherapy and I am STILL in way worse pain from before the injections. Is this normal or did something go wrong. I am really quite upset about it…..will this eventually improve or is six weeks way outside the “feeling worse before better” time !’?