If you live with pain that results from tissue damage, whether it be from disease, injury, or the wear and tear that accompanies the aging process, Platelet-Rich plasma (PRP) therapy may provide you with the relief you seek. Rather than treating the symptoms of pain and blocking receptors with medication or undergoing surgical procedures, PRP treatment is an outpatient procedure that naturally encourages your body to repair its own tissues, providing pain relief at the source.
There are numerous conditions that this treatment can assist with, including the following:
- Joint pain, such as knee, elbow, and hip
- Back and neck pain
- Neuropathy
- Plantar fasciitis
- Spinal issues, including disc problems
- Bursitis, tendonitis, and other tissue inflammation
When tissues are damaged, pain results from the inflammation surrounding them and can cause further nerve damage in the neighboring areas. This is the body’s normal response to tissue damage and fighting disease but can cause unwanted pain. Unless the underlying tissue damage causing the pain is addressed, the pain will continue.
How Does PRP Work?
Our medical team draws a small amount of the patient’s blood and uses a centrifuge to create a powerful platelet solution, which comprises less than 1% of the volume of the blood normally.
By increasing the concentration of these natural healing agents and injecting them into an affected area, we are effectively giving the body the means to correct its own damage. The platelets signal the surrounding damaged tissue that renewal and repair are in order, jumpstarting the body’s own healing processes.
Platelet's biochemistry and functionality are the keys to why platelets are an effective healing mechanism. Platelets work by stimulating collagen production, which is the foundational material for ligaments and tendons, and many other essential tissues within the body. More importantly, perhaps, for joint pain issues, PRP injections are shown to induce the body to release healing factors that lead to the formation of cartilage.
Often, in addition to inflammation and swelling, causing pain in the joints, there are issues with damage to the cartilage that cushions the joint. Suppose the cartilage becomes too worn over time. In that case, this can develop into intense pain, and the PRP injection can stimulate the growth and renewal of this vital tissue in the affected areas.
Since the platelets are derived from the patient’s own blood, the risk of rejection or other treatment reactions is inherently minimized. The treatment harnesses material already found inside your body and promotes healing through the body’s natural processes independent of powerful, potentially addictive chemicals.