Coumadin,
Aspirin, Blood thinners, and Prolotherapy
Ross Hauser, M.D.
A very common question I hear from patients is,
can I get Prolotherapy while on blood thinning
medication?
While you should
always consult with your own doctors before
beginning Prolotherapy while on blood thinners,
I can tell you I have performed Prolotherapy for
many years on patients who come to see me
already taking blood thinners, including
Coumadin and aspirin.
Further, in all my years of doing Prolotherapy
on patients on Coumadin, I have never had a
problem. I do let them know that there is an
increased chance of bleeding and/or bruising of
course, and on very very rare occasions someone
on Coumadin may develop a hematoma (where blood
accumulates in the muscle), but I have never
actually had a patient develop a hematoma. Even
if it did happen, the normal treatment is to
apply heat to it and wait until it resolves.
In regard to aspirin, most folks who take this for blood thinning are taking a baby aspirin or 81mg per day. This amount of aspirin can thin the blood and I have not found it strong enough to inhibit the Prolotherapy. So if you are on aspirin for heart disease prevention, then by all means continue taking it and don’t worry about it inhibiting the Prolotherapy.
