Sports medicine specialists have been advising patients to undertake platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy if they suffer from persistent musculoskeletal pain or joint damage for quite some time. Professional athletes were some of the first people to get PRP therapy for sports injuries, and some have attributed this therapy to their quick recovery and early return to their sport.
Due to its efficacy and regenerative qualities, several orthopedic practitioners now give their patients this choice. Here, we discuss PRP’s mechanism of action and whether it may be appropriate for your patient.
PRP for orthopedics: How does it work?
When you get hurt, your body sends platelets to the wound site to speed up the healing process. This is the science underlying PRP therapy. The goal of science is to enhance and harness your body’s innate capacity for healing.
PRP therapy uses platelets, which are clotting cells found in the blood. However, platelets are not always only used for clotting. Additionally, they include growth factors that are crucial for wound recovery and tissue regeneration in damaged areas.
What would it mean for your patient?
You would initially take a sample of the patient’s blood and extract some of the platelets if they choose to pursue PRP therapy. Next, would be to concentrate them using a centrifuge to separate them from the remaining blood cells.
After that, the pain or damage location is carefully treated with an injection of the highly concentrated platelet preparation. Laboratory tests demonstrate that this treatment aids in hastening the patient’s recovery.
Conditions that PRP therapy treats
Following musculoskeletal injuries have been observed to benefit greatly from PRP therapy:
- Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow, despite its name, refers to elbow pain and inflammation brought on by any repeated arm and wrist movement. This may arise from playing tennis a few times each week, but it may also be caused by spending all day in front of a computer. Recent research, however, indicates that PRP therapy might also aid in symptom relief and lessen the need for surgery.
- Rotator or Cuff Injuries
Your shoulders’ rotator cuffs are a group of tendons and muscles. Sports- or work-related activities, as well as a single traumatic incident, are frequent causes of rotator cuff rips or injuries. A “clicking” sound in your shoulder when you raise your arm, swelling in the front of your shoulder, a reduction in range of motion, and soreness are other symptoms.
- Jumper’s knee
In sports like basketball and volleyball, jumping and landing repeatedly can wear out your knee joint. Jumper’s knee is a long-term ailment that damages the tendon that attaches your kneecap to your shin bone and results in pain and swelling. Early PRP therapy studies indicate that between 6 to 12 months of the injection, pain and function have improved.
- Plantar Fasciitis
The tendon that links your heel bone to your toes in your foot becomes swollen as a result of plantar fasciitis. When you first put your feet on the ground in the morning, this ailment, which causes a stabbing pain in the bottom of your foot, is at its worst.
Although it can happen with other sports that involve a lot of footwork, plantar fasciitis is frequently seen among runners. Another aspect is your age and weight.
The effectiveness of PRP therapy in the treatment of plantar fasciitis has been the subject of numerous investigations. According to the results, PRP injections can reduce discomfort and enhance function.
In addition to these above, PRP therapy is advocated for patients undergoing orthopedic surgery since it helps hasten the healing process. The patient’s recuperation process can be sped up and made more effective with PRP.
Benefits of PRP for orthopedics
Pain alleviation is one of the main advantages of PRP therapy. PRP therapy can be utilised in pain management treatments since it has actually assisted patients in reducing their reliance on prescription opioids or anti-inflammatories.
Additionally, joint replacement surgery may be postponed or avoided with PRP therapy. Surgery is typically no longer required if the wound has healed or if the discomfort has significantly decreased.
