Most sports injuries that need strapping can be treated more effectively by stabilizing the joint with prolotherapy and the effect is usually permanent in young healthy people. Lateral ankle ligaments and medial knee ligaments are the commonest of these problems. Your ability to treat chronic sport injuries is limited only by your knowledge of musculo-ligamentous attachments as ligaments tear (or strain) usually at the enthesis.
A single knee injury when young, triples the risk of arthritis in that knee later in life. (Gelber Ann Int Med 2000; 133:321) The long term sequelae of injuries to young joints can be prevented if the ligaments can be restored to optimum tautness by generating new collagen in among the strained ligament fibres. As the collagen matures it shrinks slightly (as in the healing of burns) and remodelling occurs. If the ligaments now constrain the movement of the joint in the correct track the friction will again be almost zero and wear will not be increased in future years. Even if the problem is not treated until the onset of pain in middle age, the problem can usually be treated effectively to prevent progression of osteoarthritis.
This technique is great to use instead of steroids as instead of suppressing
the natural inflammatory healing process, you are actually using it to restore
form and function without the risks of steroids.
Common sports injuries that respond well to prolotherapy are: