Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) & Prolotherapy Injections

 

What is Prolothearpy?

Prolotherapy is a medical procedure that many chronic and acute pain patients, as well as athletes with sports injuries, are turning to because it is used as an alternative to surgery, arthroscopy, cortisone shots, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, and/or chronic use of narcotic pain medications.

Prolotherapy stimulates the body to repair the painful injured area(s) when the body’s natural healing process is not able to do the job on its own.

In most cases, commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory medications and more drastic measures like surgery, joint replacements, cortisone shots, and other therapies may not help, and often hinder or even prevent the healing process.

The benefits of Prolotherapy are many, the main 5 key benefits are:

  • Non Surgical
  • Anesthesia is not required
  • Relatively low risk of bleeding &/or infection
  • Outpatient procedure
  • Extremely Safe and Effective

The basic mechanism of Prolotherapy is simple. What most people are surprised to find out is that the body heals by inflammation. In other words, we need inflammation to heal our bodies. It works because it actually stimulates an inflammatory reaction in the body.

We inject Prolotherapy solutions into the affected injured soft tissue (typically ligaments or tendons), which leads to local inflammation in the injected area. The localized inflammation triggers a wound healing cascade, resulting in the deposition of new collagen, the material those ligaments and tendons are made of. New collagen shrinks as it matures. The shrinking collagen tightens the ligament that was injected and makes it stronger.

Prolotherapy has the potential of being 100 percent effective at eliminating pain and sports injuries that are a result of ligament and/or tendon weakness.

Many people who find themselves in pain want to get back in the game as soon as possible – whether their painful condition is from a back injury due to improper lifting, a work-related injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome from computer use, or plantar fasciitis from a sports injury such as long distance running.

Prolotherapy becomes a very safe, affordable option that allows the patient to keep working and/or training during the recovery process. It is one of the few treatments that encourage movement post-treatment (movement actually aids the healing process after Prolotherapy).

 

What is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)?

The platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is composed of plasma with an increased concentration of platelets. We find therefore an immense reservoir of bioactive proteins, including growth factors, which are essential to initiate and accelerate the repair and regeneration of tissues. These bioactive proteins initiate the healing of connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments, promote the creation of new blood vessels and stimulate the healing process.

To prepare PRP, a small amount of blood is taken from the patient. This blood is then centrifuged at a high frequency variable angle centrifuge and the PRP is extracted.

When the PRP is injected into the damaged tissue, it stimulates the ligament or tendon, causing inflammation that triggers the cascade of repair. It follows the development of new collagen mature, it shrinks and causes a strengthening of the tendons or ligaments injured.

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