Platelet Rich Plasma
Platelet Rich Plasma can be used in some forms of Regenerative Medicine.
What are platelets?
Located throughout our entire blood system are platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells. The platelets are specific blood components that possess specialized growth factors that are crucial to the body’s overall healing process. Quite simply, without blood platelets, the human body would not be able to heal itself.
What is Platelet Rich Plasma?
In order to conduct Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy, blood is drawn from the person being treated and placed into a container for concentration. The blood container is then put into a centrifuge so that it can be spun around at an extremely high speed. By spinning the container of blood at a high velocity, the platelets will isolate themselves from the other blood components and become highly concentrated. The result of this process will cause the platelets to be 10 times stronger than normal. Once this has been completed, the concentrated Platelet Rich Plasma will then be placed back into a small 10cc syringe which can then be injected into the injured site.
What is the injection process for the treatment?
Patients that are having the Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy conducted will require a local anesthetic applied to the injection site. The Platelet Rich Plasma will then be injected, by a licensed physician,into the surrounding tissue of the area that is injured or swollen.
Once the therapy process has been completed, which usually takes only about 10 minutes, it may take a few weeks before the treated person notices an improvement in the affected area. In fact, during the first 1-2 weeks, the pain surrounding the injured area might get even worse before it starts to feel better.
What are the different injuries that Platelet Rich Plasma can treat?
Because of the platelets diverse ability to heal, there are a wide range of different injuries that can be treated with Platelet Rich Plasma. A few of the most common injuries that this process rehabilitates is Achilles Tendonitis and Plantar Fasciitis. Other common injuries that are treated with Platelet Rich Plasma are jumper’s knee, hip bursitis, tennis elbow, rotator cuff tendonitis/tears, ankle and knee ligament injuries and more.
What injuries respond the best to Platelet Rich Plasma?
Generally, specific tendon injuries respond the best to Platelet Rich Plasma. Although this is true, various ligament and muscle injuries are also frequently treated using this specific type of therapy process. In addition, scientific research is continually being explored concerning the effectiveness of Platelet Rich Plasma on bone fractures, knee injuries, ligament damage, muscle injuries and surgical alternatives.
Currently, research studies indicate that the effectiveness of platelet rich therapy depends on the specific part of the body that is injured. On top of that, the overall health of the injured person is another essential factor to how efficient this process is. In order to provide the best ability to heal, the affected area of the body needs to be treated as soon as possible.
