Ozone therapy, benefits of therapy in the treatment of pain
Written by:Ozone therapy is the administration of ozone in the body for therapeutic purposes. It can be administered as a single treatment together with the medications or drugs that the patient is usually taking.
It depends on the area of the body that presents the pain, the treatment is carried out in one way or another. The most frequent is to administer it intra-articularly , that is, inside the painful joints. But, it can also be administered paravertebral intramuscularly , subcutaneously, in tendon sheaths, epidural and intradiscal.
Normally very small gauge needles are used to administer ozone in these structures. Only the epidural and the disc route require specific needles of greater caliber and length.
Benefits of Ozone Therapy
On painful areas, ozone therapy has an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect through the reduction of prostaglandins, which are responsible for inflammatory phenomena and pain; of the regulation of cytokines, involved in osteoarthritis; and of the regenerating and oxidant action when acting on free radicals. It can also improve the oxygen perfusion of affected tissues.
It has benefits with respect to other treatments such as corticosteroids. For example:
- Does not weaken the ligaments and tendons
- It can not form crystals that could make the pain worse
- Improves local oxygenation, necessary in patients with hip necrosis
- Does not alter the stability of other medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, obesity, anxious disorders, gastric alterations)
- There is no limit on the number of applications
- Infiltration is less painful since the needles are thinner
On the other hand, regarding treatment with hyaluronic acid, ozone therapy does not cause pain when injected because the needles are thinner, nor during the period of absorption. In addition, it does not trigger painful reactions due to drug intolerance.
Ozone therapy: treatment with ozone of pain
All the inflammatory pains in joints, tendons or fascias as well; such as osteoarthritis, tendonitis or plantar fasciitis can be treated with ozone therapy.
Ozone therapy is also indicated in lumbar and radicular pain due to back pathologies (herniated discs, disc protrusions, dnegative disc disease, canal stenosis). Also, in pain with muscle involvement, as rheumatic fibromyalgia is also a form of treatment.
