PRP Therapy: Regenerative Medicine

Platelets that are formed in your bone marrow and float throughout your bloodstream help heal damaged tissue. Sometimes, though, these platelets need some guidance on where to go. With platelet-rich plasma (PRP) regenerative medicine therapy, we can extract platelets from a small blood sample and inject them into an area to stimulate healing. Most often, PRP therapy is used on knee, elbow, or hip joints.

How It Works

People sometimes confuse PRP regenerative medicine therapy for stem cell therapy, but these are different treatments. PRP injections contain your own platelets, whereas stem cells may come from other individuals.

To prepare a PRP injection, we draw a small blood sample and place it in a centrifuge. The centrifuge spins and separates the different blood components by weight. We then extract the platelets to create a solution for the injection.

What to Expect

A typical PRP therapy session takes about an hour or less. In the first few days to a week after a PRP therapy session, it’s normal to experience a bit more pain than usual. You may also notice mild redness or irritation at the injection site, but that should improve in a few days.

Your pain should gradually improve over the course of a few weeks, and you may need repeat injections to get the most benefit from this treatment. To maximize your results, your doctor may recommend that you undergo complementary pain management techniques like physical therapy.

Who Benefits From PRP Therapy?

PRP therapy can help people of all ages who are experiencing pain and dysfunction caused by a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, including ligament sprains, muscle strains, tendonitis, runner’s knee, and tennis elbow.

If you’d like to see how regenerative medicine could help you find relief from your stubborn chronic joint pain, or if you want to safely accelerate your body’s natural healing process, call Integrated Pain Solutions to schedule your consultation: 614-383-6450.