Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce pain—but they may impede healing too, by stifling the flow of regenerative proteins to damaged areas. Prolotherapy is the anti-anti-inflammatory: It reignites the body’s natural inflammatory response with an injection of glucose, which helps build new stabilizing tissue in places where the existing tissue has grown weak. And it works: In a 2006 study at the University of British Columbia, prolotherapy successfully treated Achilles tendinosis in 32 of 36 patients.

I shelled out $125 for each session, though it can cost a lot more depending on the diagnosis. My doctor prescribed three injections over the course of two months. Each shot left my knee tender for a few days, but six months later, I returned to cycling full speed.

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