AARP The Magazine - April/May 2012

he says, prolotherapy increases the
volume of the wake-up call.
NITROGLYCERIN PATCHES Nitro-
glycerin, the active ingredient in dyna-
mite, has long been given in pill form
to treat the heart pain known as an-
gina. It does this by expanding blood
vessels that supply the heart, allow-
ing more oxygen and nutrients to
reach starved heart muscle. Over the
past few years doctors have found
another benefit for the compound:
When applied via skin patches over
painful tendons, studies show,
nitroglycerin not only reduces pain
but significantly increases tendon
strength and function in patients
suffering tennis elbow, swimmer’s
shoulder, and Achilles’ heel.
PLATELET INJECTION Although
platelets are best known as clot-
ting agents that seal cuts and stop
bleeding, they also contain powerful
tendon-healing growth factors. To
better concentrate these growth fac-
tors in a region of tendinosis, doctors
remove a small amount of the patient’s
blood, spin it in a centrifuge, separate
out the platelets, then reinject these at
the injury site. Another similar proce-
dure called autologous blood injection
(ABI) skips the platelet separation
and simply injects the patient’s whole
blood back into the damaged area.
Though research has yet to prove
one approach works better than the
other, both work for many patients:
Reported success rates range from 80
to 95 percent.
IN THE PIPELINE Stay tuned for a
host of other treatments poised to hit
the mainstream soon. For instance,
researchers recently reported positive
results for tennis elbow following in-
jections of joint-lubricating hyaluron-
ic acid (HA). Other studies have found
that certain blood pressure meds have
a serendipitous side effect: They re-
duce scar-tissue formation, promoting
a more natural, (CONTINUED ON PAGE 67)

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