Heal Your Own Body with PRP Injections
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections are an innovative treatment that leverages the body’s natural healing processes. Essentially, PRP can be thought of as a self-derived remedy, a gift from your own body to aid in recovery. It involves drawing a small amount of your blood, processing it to concentrate the platelets, and then reinjecting this concentrated solution into the area that needs healing.
Platelets, a component of blood, are rich in growth factors and proteins essential for tissue repair and regeneration. By increasing the concentration of these healing factors directly at the site of injury or inflammation, PRP therapy helps stimulate and accelerate the body’s repair mechanisms.
PRP is particularly effective in managing conditions like tendon and ligament injuries, which typically have poor blood supply and can be slow to heal. By introducing a concentrated dose of platelets, PRP helps kickstart and speed up the healing process. Additionally, PRP can help improve the function and reduce the pain in arthritic joints, stimulate muscle recovery, and even repair dysfunctional nerves.
The benefits of PRP include not only pain relief but also improved tissue function and reduced inflammation, making it a leading choice in regenerative medicine for non-surgical healing. PRP therapy is widely used in sports medicine and orthopedics, helping athletes and patients recover from musculoskeletal injuries, degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis, and even post-surgical wounds. Because the therapy uses your own blood, it minimizes the risk of allergic reactions or immune system rejection, making it a safe and natural option for healing.
How PRP is Prepared
Platelets are found in the plasma of our blood. Our blood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets all floating within a fluid plasma. PRP is the plasma and concentrated platelets minus the red blood cells. This is done by spinning your blood in a centrifuge at specific times and velocities. The force generated by the centrifuge segregates the cells from the plasma and platelets. The plasma is then further processed to create a concentrated solution of platelets.
How Does PRP Work?
Platelets are the first responders to any injury, they mobilize the immune system and start the healing process. When concentrated platelets are delivered to the injury site with a PRP injection, they become activated and stick together with fibrin in a glue like fashion. Next, they burst open and release an array of natural growth factors. These growth factors signal to the stem cells and other specialized cells to come to the area of injury and start the process of healing. They also stimulate these cells to replicate and specialize into tissue specific workers. Some of the growth factors can decrease pain, improve blood flow and stimulate nerve regeneration. The glue-like substance of platelets and fibrin can stick around in the injury site for 1-2 weeks providing a sustained release of growth factors.
