Ozone gas, O3, is formed when electricity passes through oxygen. You might have smelled the fresh scent of ozone after a thunder storm when ozone gas is formed by the electricity of a lightning bolt. There is lots of ozone found in the upper atmosphere formed by charged particles striking oxygen. There are many uses for medical ozone from treating diabetes, cancer, infections, auto-immune conditions, aging, cognitive decline and joint pain among others.
Ozone injected directly into arthritic or injured joints is one area where this gas knocks it out of the park. When combined with dextrose and an anesthetic called procaine, ozone gas stimulates the production of antioxidant enzymes, promotes the repair of injured tissues and eases pain. This is called Prolozone. Unlike high dose steroid injections, prolozone helps joints heal and improves the health of joint tissue over time.
Steroid injections have been shown to reduce pain while at the time accelerating joint tissue injury making the osteoarthritic joint worse over time. In 2018 a group of researchers pooled data from a number of studies looking at intra-articular (in the joint) injections of ozone to examine the efficacy of this treatment approach. A total of 428 patients in 5 randomized controlled trials were included with an average patient age of 64 and at least two months follow-up.
The researchers found that intra-articular ozone injects was significantly better than placebo and recommended that ozone be considered as an efficient non-surgical treatment, with benefits for at least 3 to 6 months, for people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis. Prolozone can be administered to all joints including knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, ankles, sacroiliac joints and around the spine for osteoarthritic and degenerative joints.
It is safe, well-tolerated and has the side benefit of taking care of any latent infection that might be lurking in the joint (ozone gas is highly antimicrobial). If your joints hurt, odds are highly in your favour that ozone will help.