PRP therapy, short for platelet-rich plasma therapy, is an innovative treatment that uses the body’s natural healing abilities to address a wide range of medical and cosmetic conditions. It is gaining traction as a versatile and minimally invasive option for those seeking faster healing and pain relief. But what is PRP therapy able to treat, and how effective is it?
What Is PRP Therapy Used For?
What is PRP therapy? Platelet-rich plasma therapy, or PRP therapy, is a biologic treatment that injects blood plasma and a high concentration of platelets into the body to help stimulate healing and tissue repair in certain injuries or conditions. PRP injections can also support wound healing, address male pattern baldness, stimulate the growth of hair transplants, and enhance other cosmetic procedures.
PRP injections are sometimes referred to as “orthobiologic” treatments. Orthobiologics are regenerative therapies developed from natural or biological substances and used by orthopedic specialists to help stimulate healing and relieve pain and other symptoms from certain orthopedic conditions and injuries to the joints, cartilage, ligaments, or tendons.
What Is Platelet-rich Plasma?
Blood is primarily a liquid known as plasma but contains small solid components: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Platelets play a crucial role in blood clotting, but they also carry hundreds of proteins, known as growth factors, which are essential for healing injuries. Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is simply plasma with a significantly higher concentration of platelets than typically found in blood.
How Is PRP Therapy Administered?
The PRP administration process is relatively simple. After the provider draws blood from the patient, the blood is put into a centrifuge, and the high-spinning process of centrifugation separates the plasma and platelets from the other red blood cells. The other red blood cells are discarded, and the remaining mixture of plasma and concentrated platelets is injected into the injury site to help stimulate the healing process or reduce inflammation and pain. The entire process usually takes less than an hour.
PRP is sometimes injected as part of certain surgical processes to kickstart and augment the post-surgical healing process.
What Injuries or Conditions Can PRP Therapy Help?
PRP therapy can be used to treat pain and promote faster healing in conditions like the following:
- Chronic tendon and ligament injuries, like tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, chronic Achilles tendinitis, and jumper’s knee
- Acute ligament and muscle injuries (including common sports injuries like a pulled hamstring muscle or a knee sprain)
- Neck and back pain
- Osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, or shoulder joints
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Other injuries to the cartilage, ligaments, or tendons
- Hair loss, including male pattern baldness
- Neuropathy
What Are the Risks of PRP?
PRP injections are minimally invasive and rarely cause any side effects. Since PRP comes from the patient’s blood, rejection or disease transmission is not a concern. Some people may experience temporary discomfort, pain, or stiffness at the injection site.
Those with certain conditions, including blood dyscrasia, thrombocytopenia, sepsis, anemia, and cancer, may not be good candidates for PRP.
Is PRP Therapy Effective?
While studies into the effectiveness of PRP are ongoing, available and emerging research demonstrates that PRP injuries can lead to improved outcomes in osteoarthritic, chronic tendon injuries, and more. The effectiveness of PRP with each individual patient will vary based on several factors, including the following:
- The part of the body being treated
- The patient’s overall health
- Whether the injury is acute or chronic
- The preparation and cellular makeup of the PRP itself
How Long Does It Take PRP to Work?
As with the question of effectiveness, how quickly PRP works will depend on the patient and the condition being treated. For joint injections, PRP results are most noticeable after several weeks, while for scalp injections, results peak around six months. With certain injuries, like Achilles tendinitis, patients may experience a temporary (one to two weeks) increase in pain before they start to experience relief.
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Interested in learning more about PRP therapy? If you live in the Springfield, Missouri, area, reach out to C.O.R.A.MED HRT & Regeneration Center. Our dedicated care team is committed to providing personalized, accessible, and integrated care, focusing on the root causes of health issues and employing advanced medical technology. No referral is required, and C.O.R.A.MED will create a custom care plan tailored to your unique needs. To learn more, please give us a call at 417-207-2441 or send us a message online.
