Looking for a Non Surgical approach? PRP Therapy or Stem Cell Therapy may be for you!

PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma has hit the mainstream media.

Why PRP?

Benefits of PRP Regenerative Therapy

PRP Regenerative Therapy stimulates healing through injection of one’s own growth factors into affected areas.

PRP Therapy is an effective treatment for some common orthopedic conditions, including sports injuries. PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma is a concentration of platelet cells taken from the patient’s blood, and these platelets have growth factors that may help in the healing process of chronic injuries.

Platelet rich plasma injections are replacing traditional orthopedic surgery in many instances for conditions ranging from soft tissue injuries (tendonitis, muscle tears, ligamentous injuries) to various joint afflictions, such as a torn meniscus or mild to moderate arthritis of the joint. PRP means platelet rich plasma.  Platelets are smaller than red blood cells and involved in clotting our blood and helping to heal injuries.  It’s a great next generation play to treat tendinitis and things that need a little help in healing.  As a result, athletes have used PRP to get back to the field faster.

PRP is a mix of concentrated platelets and serum.  Why is this important?  Surgeons have known for years that healing depends on platelets.  These very tiny blood components are rich in growth factors and help form a blood clot during injury.  When you injure an area like a ligament or a muscle, they seep into the wound during the bleeding that normally occurs.  They then set up a blood clot to stop the bleeding and start to release growth factors to the area to coordinate a repair response.  Over the first week or so, they act as a time release “pill” that secretes various growth factors as various times.  These time release growth factors do things like bring in stem cells and bring in new blood vessels to ensure that the body can get more blood to the area.  PRP is created when the doctor takes blood from a vein and places it in a special centrifuge to concentrate platelets (usually 3-5 times their normal concentration). 

Platelets and accompanying stem cells are responsible for repair, whether in healing an injury or recovering from surgery. Platelets are found circulating in the blood in relatively small numbers. By concentrating the platelets drawn from your own blood supply, we are able to harness the power of platelets to relieve pain and stop inflammation for orthopedic disorders and injuries.

 The aftercare for most PRP injections is relatively simple. Patients will resume activity at their own pace. The pain from the process typically will last a few days, occasionally longer, and some patients have more severe or sporadic pain than others. Because your own blood is used, there is no risk of a transmittable infection and a very low risk of allergic reaction to the treatment.