Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

Platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy is said to be one of the first important finds of tissue engineering. This is a treatment that helps to relieve pain by promoting long-lasting healing conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system. This technique is growing in popularity and shows a lot of potential in treating cases of chronic osteoarthritis of the knee, shoulder, hip and spine, rotator cuff tears, chronic plantar fasciitis, pelvic pain and instability, back and neck injuries, tennis elbow, ankle sprains, tendonitis, ligament sprains, etc. Given below are details regarding how this treatment works and what are the various applications of this treatment.

How Does the PRP Therapy Work?

When there is any kind of injury in the body, the body's first response is to deliver platelet cells at the site of the injury. These are cells that help in preventing bleeding and loss of blood and are packed with growth and healing factors. Hence, platelets basically help to initiate repair. Thus, when platelet rich plasma is present, it acts as a natural healing process which intensifies the body's efforts towards repair by delivering a higher concentration of platelets to the injured site. To use platelet rich plasma therapy, a small sample of the person's own blood is drawn and is placed in a centrifuge that spins the blood at a high speed. This leads to separation of the platelets from the other components of blood. The concentrated platelet rich plasma that is then obtained is taken and injected into and around the point of physical injury. This helps to start off a healing process, thus, significantly strengthening and accelerating the body's natural healing procedure and helping in pain management. As the person's own blood is used, there is no risk of a transmissible infection and there is also a very low risk of developing an allergic reaction.

Uses of the PRP Therapy

There are many cases reported repeatedly of overuse injuries, especially when seen in athletes. These are those injuries that can cause micro tears of the muscle or tendon fibers that connect the muscle tissue. This could result in weakness and recurring pain at the site of the injury. This is generally called tendonitis, which is an acute inflammatory condition. This condition can also lead to tendinosis, which is a chronic degenerative condition affecting the tendons and muscles. Both tendonitis and tendinosis can affect the normal healing process of the damaged tissue and can lead to severe pain and dysfunction. Hence, there can be many uses of platelet rich plasma therapy to treat such cases.

The various conditions that are treated with the help of platelet rich plasma include:

• Shoulder pain: This shoulder pain could be due to a rotator cuff injury leading to tendinosis. It could also be due to a triceps tendonitis.
• Foot and ankle pain: Achilles tendinosis or plantar fasciitis.
• Arm pain: Tendonitis that is affecting the biceps, a tennis elbow or a wrist tendonitis.
• Knee pain: Patella tendinosis
• Hip pain: This could occur due to trochanteric bursitis, hamstring tendonitis, quadriceps tendonitis, etc.

This procedure generally takes around an hour or two. The best part is that it helps to relieve a person of pain, while avoiding the possible complications and risks that are associated with surgery and general anesthesia. Furthermore, there is no need for a hospital stay, as there is no prolonged recovery procedure. In cases, where the person may be suffering from a lot of pain, one may want to consider getting a second or third injection, as a single shot may not provide as much relief as required. However, it is strongly advised that not more than three injections be given in less than six months, as a single shot of platelet rich plasma therapy cost is around USD 2000. In the end, this is a great treatment option for dealing with cases where there is a history of chronic pain.