Platelet Rich Plasma

What is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)?

Platelet-rich plasma or PRP is a promising state of the art treatment that involves the injection of one’s own growth factors into an injured area to stimulate a healing response in damaged tissues. In response to an injury or tissue damage, your body naturally recruits platelets and white blood cells from the blood to initiate a healing response. Under normal conditions, platelets store numerous growth factors, which are released in response to signals from the injured tissue. Using this treatment allows us to concentrate platelets and white blood cells from your blood, and induce this growth factor release when we inject it back into injured tissue, stimulating a much stronger healing response. By enhancing the body's natural healing capacity, the treatment can lead to a more rapid, more efficient, and more thorough restoration of the tissue to a healthy state.

What conditions can be treated with PRP?

Many orthopaedic problems can be treated with PRP including: Rotator cuff tendonitis, partial rotator cuff tears, biceps tendonitis, shoulder bursitis, medial, and lateral epicondylitis (golfers & tennis elbow), elbow ligament sprains or tears, wrist and hand tendonitis, wrist and hand ligament sprains or tears, hip bursitis, hamstring tendonitis or tears, quadriceps tendonitis, patellar tendonitis, ligament sprains or tears in the knee, knee bursitis, shin splints, Achilles tendon tears, plantar fascitis, ankle and foot tendonitis, and ankle and foot ligament sprains or tears.

What is the treatment process?

Following a formal evaluation and diagnostic workup, an individualized treatment plan will be discussed with you. The first step involves drawing a small amount (30cc) of blood from your arm. The blood is placed in special tubes, placed into a centrifuge, and spun down to separate the platelets and white blood cells from the serum and red blood cells. The platelets and white blood cells are collected into a sterile syringe. The skin is sterilely prepped, the area is anesthetized with local anesthetic, and the PRP is injected into the damaged tissue that has been targeted for treatment.

What is the treatment duration?

Depending on the severity and duration of your injury, one to three PRP injections are suggested. Following the initial treatment with PRP, a follow up visit occurs 2-4 weeks later. At this visit an evaluation of your response to the initial therapy is performed and a decision is made regarding the need for additional PRP treatments. In general, chronic injuries require more than one injection. In both acute and chronic injuries, injections may be combined with an exercise or physical therapy program to enhance the success of the treatment.

Are PRP injections safe?

Research and clinical data show that PRP injections are extremely safe, with minimal risk for any adverse reaction or complication. Because PRP is produced from your own blood, there is no concern for rejection or disease transmission. There is a small risk of infection from any injection into the body, but this is very rare.

What can you expect after your treatment?

Often, following the initial injection, the site of treatment is “sore”. This effect can last for several days and gradually decreases as healing and tissue repair occurs. It is important that anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Celebrex, and Aspirin be avoided following PRP treatments. These medicines may block the effects of the intended healing response facilitated by the injection itself. It is acceptable to use over the counter pain medication, such as Tylenol, to control discomfort as needed. You will be permitted to resume normal day to day activities and light exercise following injection.