My guy hurt, sprained whatever, his Achilles tendon. We’ve seen an orthopedist, there’s no break or anything. He gave him prednisone, but my friend mentioned prolotherapy. Her son was an athlete and he had these treatments on his back and felt they helped for a long time, but said they were somewhat painful. And not covered by insurance.
He’s been pretty much laid up almost 2 mos. and no sign of getting better. He does have a walking boot, but it’s a PITA. We miss our early morning walks, and the sitting is not helping his physical condition at all.
So, please let me know if you’ve tried this and had any result and how was the pain? He’s a giant wuss. 
I don’t have experience with this, but I looked it up online. Here is the Mayo Clinic page on it. Apparently research on the effectiveness and safety of this procedure is thin and inconclusive.
I had steroid injections into my knee a couple of times. The injection itself was not painful. Prolotherapy injects an irritant into the joint to stimulate growth of connective tissue. I can imagine repeatedly having an irritant injected would not be pleasant, but as I said I have no experience of it.
Has he tried the PT route? That would be my first step, before trying something more unusual.
Can’t do PT at all now, too much pain, we do some light stretching to keep his calves from tightening up.
He (we both) have had the knee injections, successfully. But the ortho said no such route was available for this injury.
Is that the PT’s recommendation (not to do PT while in pain)? If not, you may be surprised that the PT can help relieve the pain as part of treatment. A consult may be really helpful.
If that is what the PT said, I’m really sorry to hear that. Sounds awful.
Yup, Ortho said wait at least 4 weeks to work on PT. Thus the light stretching recommended at home.
Is stem cell therapy a possibility? When I partially tore a tendon, the ortho said stem cell therapy–which wasn’t widely available then–would have helped me immeasurably. I’ve read that achilles injuries are notoriously slow to heal but that stem cell therapy speeds up the process.
(Sorry that this doesn’t answer the OP. Just wondering if this was an option.)
Interesting, nope, maybe he wants to rethink it at our 4 week appt. He mentioned some blood spinning process that he didn’t have much regard for and I’ve forgotten the name.
“The Food and Drug Administration( is attempting to shut down clinics that hawk unapproved stem cell therapies, which have been linked to several cases of blindness and at least 12 serious infections Although doctors usually need preapproval to treat patients with human cells, the FDA has carved out a handful of exceptions, as long as the cells meet certain criteria, said Barbara Binzak Blumenfeld, an attorney who specializes in food and drug law at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Washington…”
"While hospital-based stem cell treatments may be legal, there’s no strong evidence they work, said Leigh Turner, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics who has published a series of articles describing the size and dynamics of the stem cell market. "
“FDA approval isn’t needed and physicians can claim they aren’t violating federal regulations,” Turner said. “But just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical.”
“For doctors and hospitals, stem cells are easy money, Turner said. Patients typically pay more than $700 a treatment for platelets and up to $5,000 for fat and bone marrow injections. As a bonus, doctors don’t have to wrangle with insurance companies, which view the procedures as experimental and largely don’t cover them.”
“For doctors and hospitals, stem cells are easy money.”
“It’s an out-of-pocket, cash-on-the-barrel economy,” Turner said. Across the country, “clinicians at elite medical facilities are lining their pockets by providing expensive placebos.”
Thanks for the info, which certainly puts a different spin on things. For the record, the (highly reputable)orthopedic surgeon who thought stem cell therapy would help wasn’t actually offering it. This was 7 years ago, and he didn’t have access to stem cells. It sounds like things have changed considerably since then. I appreciate you setting me straight.
No one mentioned stem cells??
I can assure you PT didn’t say that. 
[d&r]
Right, it was the orthopedic doctor that said no PT for 4 weeks.