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Elbow Ozone Injection Protocol
Fluid and gas volumes and schedule for ozone elbow injections, with the Prolozone mixture and ozone-oxygen approaches side by side.
Quick answer: Ozone elbow injection uses 1–2 mL of fluid and 3–5 mL of gas (Wright) at 5–20 µg/mL (Madrid), repeated every 10–14 days (Wright). The sheet compares the Prolozone mixture and ozone-oxygen approaches.
Warning
Requires hands-on training from an experienced physician
Elbow ozone injection should only be performed by a practitioner trained in it by an experienced physician.
Practitioner-only procedure. Injecting ozone, with or without a nutrient mixture, is done by trained, licensed clinicians. This sheet is a reference for them. It is not a self-treatment guide and not medical advice. Strict sterile technique is required every time.
What are the basics of ozone elbow injection?
- The elbow is one of the joints in Madrid's general intra-articular table. Madrid has no separate elbow section.
- The elbow tutorial does not describe landmarks or the needle size in a form we could use, so this sheet gives only what the transcript states. Watch the video for the entry point.
- Prolozone, as Dr. Jeff Wright teaches it, adds nutrients and ozone to damaged tissue. His explanation: swollen tissue receives less blood, which leaves the area short of oxygen, and ozone supplies bioavailable oxygen.
- Wright's expected course from his own practice: a second injection 10 to 14 days after the first, with results after as few as 3 injections or as many as 6 to 8. Chronically ill patients can need more. He describes his success as 90 to 95 percent. That is his clinical impression, not a trial result.
- Wright's tutorials do not state ingredient amounts. The solution he used is a compounded pre-mix of methylcobalamin (vitamin B12), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), dextrose and procaine. The amounts are in the table below, taken from the compounded formula sheet. He also describes drawing up individual nutrients in a hood.
- The Madrid Declaration describes ozone-oxygen infiltration only: no nutrient mixture. Both are shown side by side below and labeled.
Sources: Dr. Jeff Wright's tutorial videos for MediSkill; Madrid Declaration on Ozone Therapy, 4th edition (ISCO3, 2025), sections 1.12 and 4. Paraphrased.
What dose and technique are used for ozone elbow injection?
Two approaches are shown side by side. They are different procedures: the Prolozone mixture is Wright's, and ozone-oxygen alone is what Madrid describes.
| Prolozone mixture (per Wright) | Ozone-oxygen only (per Madrid) | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes in | Dr. Wright's pre-mixed solution (formula below), usually 1 to 2 mL, then 3 to 5 mL of ozone gas. | Ozone-oxygen mixture only. |
| Gas volume | 3 to 5 mL is sufficient, per Wright. | General joint table: 5 to 20 mL. Wright's elbow volume is below the lower end of that range. |
| Concentration | Not stated in the tutorial. | General joint table: low 5, medium 10, high 15 to 20 µg/mL. |
| Schedule | Second injection 10 to 14 days after the first. Results in as few as 3 and as many as 6 to 8 injections. | Not specified for the elbow. |
Dr. Wright's pre-mixed solution: how it is made (per 8 mL of mixture)
This is the compounded mixture Dr. Wright used in his protocols. The amounts below are the recipe for making the mixture, taken from the compounded formula sheet, not from the tutorial videos. They are not the amount injected at one site.
| Ingredient | Strength | Amount per 8 mL of mixture |
|---|---|---|
| Methylcobalamin (methyl-B12) | 1 mg/mL | 2 mL |
| Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) | 100 mg/mL | 1 mL |
| Dextrose | 50% | 1 mL |
| Procaine | 2% | 4 mL |
| Total | 8 mL |
- Draw up the solution into a sterile syringe using antiseptic technique (the formula sheet uses a 10 mL syringe).
- Inject the solution at the selected site, using this sheet's own technique and volume.
- Leave the needle in place, remove the syringe, and inject the ozone through the same needle.
The volume injected is as Dr. Wright's elbow demonstration states it: usually 1 to 2 mL of fluid.
This is a compounded pre-mix with a beyond-use date of 90 days refrigerated. The solution is compounded by a pharmacy and requires a prescriber.
Madrid advises placing any local anesthetic so that the ozone does not break it down. Dr. Wright gives his solution first and then the ozone through the same needle. These are two different practices.
Landmarks, approach and needle gauge for the elbow are not given in the source material, so none are listed.
What are the best tips when using ozone elbow injection?
- Wright confirms he is on the spot by feel and by the patient's reaction.
- Wright's elbow volumes are small: 1 to 2 mL of fluid and 3 to 5 mL of gas. Follow the patient's report of pressure.
- Tell the patient what to expect. Pressure and fullness while the gas goes in are normal, and the patient should say when it is too much. Wright says an electrical zing is not normal: stop and reposition.
What are the precautions for ozone elbow injection, and who should avoid it?
- Sterile technique every time. Madrid says most serious side effects trace back to malpractice, including technique, asepsis and antisepsis. Its reported serious events include septic arthritis of the knee after intra-articular infiltration, abscess after paravertebral injection, and one death from sepsis after a paravertebral infiltration done without proper asepsis (Madrid Declaration on Ozone Therapy, 4th edition (ISCO3, 2025), section 2.5).
- Clean the injection site with alcohol and let it dry before the needle goes through (as Dr. Wright does). Use sterile, single-use syringes and needles, and do not touch the vial adapter once it is out of its package (Wright).
- Draw up nutrient solutions in a hood with needleless vial adapters, as Dr. Wright demonstrates in his overview video. Check that every solution you inject is allowed by your licensing board, as he advises.
- Never inject ozone gas into a vein or an artery. Madrid strongly discourages both because of the risk of air embolism, and lists embolic events after paravertebral and intradiscal injections among its serious adverse events.
- The elbow tutorial does not describe nerve landmarks. Rely on your own anatomy training and imaging to choose the entry point.
Contraindications
The Madrid Declaration lists these contraindications for systemic ozone (IV and blood). It gives no separate list for intra-articular injection, but many practitioners use the same screening before treating:
- Direct inhalation of ozone gas. The fluid lining the lungs has no antioxidants to buffer it, so inhaled ozone is toxic.
- Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency (favism, acute hemolytic anemia). Madrid lists it as a contraindication for systemic ozone, but whether it is absolute is debated. MediSkill protocols start low and go slow; see the contraindications article.
- Toxic hyperthyroidism (severe Graves' disease)
- Thrombocytopenia (platelets under 50,000) and severe coagulation disorders
- Severe cardiovascular instability
- Acute alcohol intoxication
- Recent acute myocardial infarction
- Acute massive hemorrhage
- Convulsive states
- Hemochromatosis
- Patients receiving intravenous copper or iron therapy
Pregnancy. Madrid advises avoiding ozone therapy in the first trimester (weeks 0 to 13) and reserves its use in pregnancy for specialists in gynecology and obstetrics.
More detail
Landmarks and steps, as demonstrated by Dr. Wright
- Locate and mark the site. The tutorial does not describe the landmarks.
- Clean the site with alcohol and let it dry.
- Insert the needle. The patient may feel a poke; Wright reads the patient's reaction to confirm position.
- Inject 1 to 2 mL of fluid.
- Inject 3 to 5 mL of ozone gas.
- Remove the needle and check how the elbow feels.
Equipment
- Sterile syringes and needles (gauge not stated)
- Dr. Wright's compounded pre-mixed solution (requires a prescriber), or individual nutrients drawn up in a hood with needleless vial adapters
- Ozone-oxygen gas in a syringe
- Alcohol prep
What the studies used
Study doses are listed as printed in each paper and are not Madrid or Wright dosing.
The study summary we drew on has no elbow-specific trial. No human study of the classic Prolozone mixture (procaine, vitamins and ozone) is in the study summary we drew on. Trials that add something to ozone used dextrose, somatropin or hypertonic saline, and the evidence for Wright's mixture itself rests on his clinical experience.
Video
Overview of the technique and the reasoning behind it: Prolozone Overview - Ozone Joint Injections | Dr. Jeff Wright.
Learn more
Background, benefits and research on injections: Ozone injections, full article.
Related protocols: Ankle Ozone Injection Protocol, Neck Ozone Injection Protocol, Back Ozone Injection Protocol.
Other injection protocols
For licensed practitioners. Educational reference only, not medical advice. Follow your scope of practice and local regulations.
