Prolotherapy for knee pain/injury

Hello,
I am looking for anyone who has had personal experience (good, bad, or no effect) using prolotherapy for a knee injury. I first injured my knee in December 2009 while squatting down - I fell forward and hyper-flexed my knee too far over my toes. The first injury wasn't that bad but I was working a personal trainer/cycle instructor at the time and subsequently did not take the injury seriously enough, did not take time off work, and re-injured the same area 3 times over 4 months. I was then forced to quit my job and have been living on disability payments for the past year. Although my MRI was clean, upon examination, my specialist determined that my MCL on the injured leg is longer/more lax than on my good leg. He says that I most likely had a partial tear to my MCL and when it healed it did not go back to its original length or maybe did not heal completely. Surgery is not an option since the MCL is within normal range so if he tried to go in and tighten it, it could very well end up being too tight. I have seen specialists, chiropractors and physical therapists who all say that my pain is due to lack of muscle. However, none of them can tell me how I am supposed to build muscle when my knee gets aggravated just walking around my house. I cannot walk or stand for longer than 20 minutes at a time and must be seated for 80% of my day or my inner knee will ache. I can do very limited physical therapy exercises (lying down or sitting down only) otherwise the pain gets worse. I am pretty desperate at this point and I have done extensive reading about prolotherapy. I am lucky that there is an experienced prolo doctor, Dr. Donna Alderman, who has a practice in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live. I am seriously considering at least getting a consultation with her but I am very scared about the injections. I had a cortisone shot a few months ago and it was so painful and intense that I fainted! Not only that, but the cortisone shot did nothing but flare my knee up really badly for one week, then it was back to my original pain. I am hoping someone could share their prolotherapy experience with me. It sounds scary, but the reasoning behind it makes a lot of sense.
Thank you.

I would recommend you ask about getting a newer mri with contrast of your knee,
as not all mri's show good, as it depends mostly on the magnet in the machines.
I had an injection in my knee however it was done under light sedation, and
I iced the site for 24 hours to help it...does ice packs help??? or is heat better?
Maybe ask about light physcial therapy with ultra sound/ ten unit treatments, before trying the
prolotherapy, or give the prolotherapy a try and see...
Healing hugz and well wishes...
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((cobragirl17))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
hope the prolotherapy can help you....

Pebbles,
email me so we can discus this. I've 30 years of life with bad knees and more surgeries and pt than I can count. And, was premed. Have kept up.

I considered prolo but it basically forms scar tissue, and that is one thing I need no more of in a knee that has had two replacements, multiple surgeries, etc.

I will not get prolotherapy because of the injected dextrose. Sure, the lidocaine will anesthetize the joint and make the pain go away temporarily, but the dextrose can spike your blood sugar, and it's not a sugar we normally absorb in the GI system. It's made from corn too, so there's a significant amount of sulfite, for those who are intolerant to that! I've read that it causes internal scarring, and I'm pretty sure my insurance won't cover it either.

I've had one regular knee steroid injection that did nothing, but didn't hurt. I had an ankly one that hurt like blazes when the lidocaine wore off and I hopped around for 5 days. The ones I get in my spine usually help after a few days, but they mostly don't last past about 6 weeks. One in my shoulder didn't work, but two subsequent ones by different doctors gave great relief.

The value of steroid injections depends on the skill of the doctor, the condition being treated, your sensitivities, and lots more. Unfortunately the shots seem only temporary, although they may give good diagnostic information.