What Are PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Injections?

Doctors know that the body has an incredible ability to survive and heal itself. This is why several regenerative medicine options are nowadays available. The Platelet Rich Plasma Procedure is one of them. It amplifies natural growth factors inside your body so that tissues can heal themselves. 

Platelets And Plasma

In whole blood, the liquid part is plasma. It is made out of proteins and water (for the most part) and it offers a suitable medium for your white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets to keep circulating freely throughout your body. The platelets are also blood cells. They are the ones that are causing growth healing functions, including blood clots. 

Activating platelets is a very important thing for the body and its natural healing process. Without this, it is much harder for the body to heal itself. 

PRP Injections And Platelet-Rich Plasma

PRP therapy will use injections with a concentration of platelets based on the body of the patient. The goal is to accelerate how fast tendons, muscles, joints, and ligaments heal. With the use of PRP injections, the own healing system of the patient helps to improve the musculoskeletal problem that exists. 

The doctor takes a number of blood tubes from the patient and then runs them through the centrifuge in order to concentrate platelets. This is how a PRP injection is prepared. The activated platelets are the ones that are injected into the diseased or injured body tissue. Growth factors are released so that the body’s reparative cells number are increased. 

Injections are sometimes guided through ultrasound imaging. For instance, when the patient has a torn tendon since it can be really beneficial. 

What is interesting is that Platelet-rich plasma was proven to be very effective when it comes to enhancing the body’s natural healing process. With the use of PRP injections, for instance for shoulder pains due to rotator cuff tears or Achilles tendon ruptures, the movie is very common. 

PRP was shown to reduce pain and improve function in those who deal with chronic tendinosis or tendonitis. The best examples of this are the golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow. 

PRP injections have some very clear advantages you should be aware of. For instance, they can reduce how many anti-inflammatories you need to put inside your body. The same goes for strong medications, including opioids. 

At the same time, PRP injections do have some side effects. Fortunately, they are quite limited. This is mainly because of the fact that injections are created right from the patient’s own blood. The body is not going to reject the platelets and will not react negatively. 

Obviously, if you are interested in PRP injections, you need the help of a specialist. You shouldn’t and cannot take advantage of this opportunity without the help of someone who knows what they are doing. Fortunately, there are several different options available in several parts of the world. You can find some great clinics that would help you with PRP injections. Just make sure you read all you can about them before you take advantage of the opportunity.