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We’ve all heard it said “the problem won’t fix itself” at one point or another, but what if you could regenerate your health with PRP? More recently, healthcare professionals have taken notice of the body’s ability to heal itself and the underexplored medical potential that comes with that. Read more about platelet-rich plasma therapy and all it’s capable of achieving in our blog!

What Is Plasma and What Are Platelets?

You may be asking yourself what plasma and platelets even are. Here’s a brief description to help you become aware with how they function individually:

  • Plasma is the largest portion of your blood, making up about 55% of its overall content, also containing water, salts, and enzymes.
  • Platelets are made up of the cells that circulate within one’s blood, binding together when damaged blood vessels are detected. For example, when a cut occurs on your hand, platelets are the cells that work to halt the bleeding and grant the cut a chance to close.

 Platelet-rich Plasma – How it Works

Simply stated, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is therapy via injections of a patient’s own platelets for the purpose of advanced healing. PRP is a fairly simple process that can be performed in just under two hours. The procedure is as follows:

  1. Step 1: Blood collection from patient (typically between 15-50 milliliters worth)

Unlike most blood work where patients are advised against consumption of food or beverage prior to the procedure, the only prerequisite for this step is for patients to hydrate well prior to arrival seeing as higher levels of water in the body facilitate the blood drawing process.

  • Step 2: Blood is placed into a machine called a centrifuge

Through rapid spinning this device achieves the separation of platelets from the rest of the blood.

Image of a blood sample in a centrifuge machine.
  • Step 3: Injection of PRP into targeted area

By using regenerative medicine such as platelet-rich plasma therapy, this allows for the natural factors your body uses to heal tissue to be magnified. Through administration of concentrated platelets in a single injection, a body suffering injury can gain up to five times as many growth factors than it would normally. A huge advantage to PRP therapy is that any risk of mismatch, infection, or contamination are avoided seeing as the blood you are receiving came from you.

Who Can Benefit from PRP Treatment?

The use of PRP injections can aid in treatment for various conditions. Serving multipurpose uses such as musculoskeletal injuries or even cosmetic procedures. For example, when suffering a tendon, ligament, muscle, or joint injury—recovery time can be extensive. Therefore, the addition of PRP shots to a treatment plan can assist in speeding up the healing process. Post-surgical healing is another space where PRP shots shine. Doctors first began using PRP to aid in the healing process post plastic surgery. Early studies also show promise to patients managing osteoarthritis. Potential to help target pain and stiffness associated by adjusting to joint environment and reducing inflammation.

While research on platelet-rich plasma continues to grow, it’s role in the medical field continues to expand in relevance!

Contact us to discuss your personalized pain management plans.

At KPW Health, we believe in the power of PRP as a form of pain management. Visit our website or call us at 727.230.3423 to learn more and book your appointment today! Regenerate your health, explore PRP!

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6220007/

https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/platelet-rich-plasma-prp

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