About Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP)

Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP)

Platelet-rich Plasma therapy, or PRP, is a form of regenerative therapy that harnesses the body’s innate healing abilities and enhances natural growth factors used by your body to heal tissue. PRP provides patients with a safe and effective alternative to pain medications, corticosteroid injections, and invasive surgeries.

Plasma is the liquid portion of the blood. It consists of mostly water and proteins, and it provides a medium for white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets to move through the body. Platelets are cells in your blood that bind together when they sense damaged tissue. Our bodies respond to soft tissue injuries by delivering a surge of platelet cells to jump start the healing process.

PRP amplifies the body’s natural healing response by delivering a concentration of platelets directly into the damaged tissues. It is prepared by running tubes of your own blood through a centrifuge, which separates the platelets from other blood components and concentrates them. When these activated platelets are injected directly into the damaged tissue, they release various types of growth factors that play an essential role in the regeneration of cells and tissues. They also increase the number of reparative cells produced by your body, resulting in accelerated healing.

Research has shown that PRP is effective in providing long-lasting relief for painful musculoskeletal conditions, such as back and neck injuries, osteoarthritis of the joints, tendonitis, rotator cuff injuries, tennis elbow, and other soft-tissue injuries. PRP has also been demonstrated to assist in repairing damaged nerves that cause peripheral neuropathy.

PRP offers several advantages for patients, such as reducing the amount of anti-inflammatory and pain-killing medications. Likewise, since PRP injections are produced from your own blood, potential side effects are very minimal because your body will not reject or react to them. Talk with our doctors to learn more about how PRP can help you!

Reference:
Efficacy of combined ozone and platelet-rich-plasma treatment versus platelet-rich-plasma treatment alone in early stage knee osteoarthritis