As many as 70 million Americans suffer from chronic pain and many cannot find help. But a new treatment may offer "sweet relief."

Susan Jovanovic knows all about pain. She had a sciatic nerve injury more than a year ago. Nothing has stopped the pain, until now.

Jovanovic is getting prolotherapy, which is injections of dextrose -- or glucose -- mixed with lidocaine, reported WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.

"It's an injection given into damaged ligaments, tendons and muscles that stimulates the body's own immune system in order to repair that damage, creating new ligament, tendon and muscle tissue," said Dr. Scott Greenberg, of the Magaziner Center in Cherry Hill, N.J.

"Since I've been coming here, I've been feeling so much better. It's been giving me hope," Jovanovic said.

Prolotherapy has been around a long time. Still, insurance companies do not cover the injections that cost several hundred dollars. Most people need six to 12 treatments.

Although Greenberg is a medical doctor, you won't find many doctors giving prolotherapy. Many traditional doctors doubt prolotherapy's effectiveness.

"The biggest risk is people won't get the care or treatment that they might otherwise benefit from," said Dr. John McShane, of the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. "(It's) a lot of money on something that may not even work."

However, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop said prolotherapy actually helped him out of pain.

And Koop said he has given prolotherapy injections to adults. He believes it works when ligaments are loose, but he advises people to only go to doctors who are skilled at the injections.

Part of the theory is the injections cause an inflammation that prompts healing, and anti-inflammatories stop healing.

Greenberg has patients who say these shots of dextrose, or sugar, bring them sweet relief, especially after they've tried everything from physical therapy to acupuncture to chiropractic.

Mary Jo Hartnagel's sciatica was excruciating.

"I think prolotherapy relieves chronic pain better than anything I tried for six months after my initial injury. I wish I had done it sooner," she said.