PRP therapy has been successful in treating a range of medical and aesthetic issues. You’re likely familiar with PRP being used by famous sportspeople who utilised it to treat sporting injuries. PRP is a treatment that doctors are continually looking for innovative applications for – PRP therapy for wound healing is one of them.
Dental Wounds
Since the invention of the procedure, dentists have accelerated healing following root canal and tooth extraction procedures by using PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma). Dentists have recently discovered that by injecting serum into the mouth, they can accelerate the growth of bone and tissue to better support dental implants. An extension of this treatment use is PRP wound therapy.
Small scars can now be used to stimulate the healing of wounds. PRP treatments work well on all kinds of wounds, including diabetic ulcers, surgical procedures, pressure ulcers, and eyelashes.
Acknowledging the body’s inherent healing process
The body works to mend wounds every time they occur. The healing process typically involves four stages.
Hemostasis: At this point, the wound’s bleeding has stopped. The blood turns from a liquid to a gel at the location of the wound. In order to stop future blood loss from the wound, the damaged blood vessels seal.
Inflammation: The body’s natural healing process starts when chemicals are released into the wound. Redness and swelling around the wound are brought on by these substances. The wound will also be hot and painful. The body will elevate the temperature
if the wound is serious in order to combat any germs or bacteria that might have gotten inside the wound.
Dispersion: Now that collagen and other growth factors are concentrated in the location, the body starts to build new tissue. In order to facilitate healing, new blood vessels are produced, which carry nutrients and oxygen.
Maturation: The wound develops skin. However, the length of time it takes for the inner tissue to fully recover depends on how severe the injury was. Even though the development phase can take a while, the damage still needs to be treated.
Understanding the function of PRP therapy in healing wounds
The concentration of chemicals used by the body throughout the healing process is the serum used in PRP therapy. Every element in the plasma is naturally created to supply all the components required for the healing process. PRP therapy is therefore particularly efficient at promoting wound healing.
- Thromboxanes: Cells called thromboxanes aid in blood clotting by preventing blood flow and producing blood clots.
- Serotonin: Reduces bleeding and part of your pain.
- Growth Factors: Growth factors that affect keratinocytes and fibroblasts: The cells that make up the tissue and the collagen scaffold are called fibroblasts, while the cells that make up the skin’s top layer are called keratinocytes.
- Cytokines: Proteins called cytokines draw a lot of white blood cells to the site to prevent infection. Additionally, cytokines guide cells that mend tissue to heal by sending them signals.
- Platelets: Another type of protein called platelets also eliminates infection-causing pathogenic germs.
- Plasmaproteases: To prepare the area around the incision for a new frame, plasma proteases clean the tissue there.
PRP and wound care: Why is it used?
A little amount of blood is drawn from the patient’s forearm to prepare PRP. The plasma is isolated by doctors using a centrifuge. Then they inject the wound with the concentrated growth factors and other restorative agents.
Blood typically contains healing growth factors, however, these substances are only mildly present. The PRP serum significantly speeds up the healing process, similar to the drugs that doctors sometimes put in bandages.
The fact that PRP is produced from the patient’s blood and is unlikely to have any negative effects is its strongest benefit for wound healing. In addition, because of its tougher structure and limited blood flow, the scar tissue develops in the incision. PRP can encourage the growth of new blood vessels, allowing healing to start right away.
