There’s a reason why platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is revolutionizing the field of pain management. This game-changing regenerative treatment focuses on healing damage and disease, not masking your symptoms. But the best part is it doesn’t use risky drugs or surgery. Instead, it uses your own body.
At Orthopaedic Care Specialists in North Palm Beach, Florida, Thomas F. Saylor, MD, believes surgery is always the last resort. That’s why he offers the latest nonsurgical solutions — such as PRP therapy — for relieving debilitating pain at the source.
In this blog, Dr. Saylor offers his insights into the benefits of PRP therapy.
Unlike traditional pain management treatments, PRP therapy focuses on eliminating your symptoms instead of masking them. But how? It heals the damage causing your pain.
PRP therapy is just one of many forms of regenerative medicine. This cutting-edge field of medicine uses healing substances in the body to repair damage and regenerate new tissue. With PRP therapy, that means harvesting and concentrating vital elements found in your blood.
Your blood contains plasma, which is mostly water, platelets, and essential proteins and antibodies. They each have important jobs. For example, your platelets make growth factors, which are involved with tissue regeneration, healing, and cell division.
PRP therapy concentrates these powerful elements, which increases their potency up to 5-10 times. When injected directly into an injury, they activate the healing process on a cellular level.
Dr. Saylor performs PRP therapy during an office visit. The first step involves a blood draw. After collecting your sample, our team prepares your injection by spinning your blood in a centrifuge machine. This is how we separate and concentrate the healing elements in your blood.
Next, Dr. Saylor locates the precise area of your injury and injects your PRP serum. This then activates the healing process in your body. Then, as your tissue regenerates and heals over the following weeks, your pain and inflammation should decrease. You’ll likely have mild discomfort and swelling after getting your injection, but this normally indicates that the healing process has begun.
Since the PRP serum comes from your own body, there are few — if any — side effects or risks associated with the treatment. In most cases, patients are able to return to normal activities immediately afterward. However, Dr. Saylor will provide individual post-injection instructions based on your condition and treatment.
Depending on your condition, Dr. Saylor may recommend a series of PRP treatments to ensure the best results.
Since PRP therapy triggers the healing process, Dr. Saylor uses it to treat numerous types of tissue damage and disease.
Types of orthopedic conditions that can benefit from PRP therapy include:
Dr. Saylor could also use PRP therapy in conjunction with minimally invasive surgery to help accelerate tissue remodeling and healing in the surgical area.
To learn more about PRP therapy and to see if it may be able to help you, call 561-292-0148 or book an appointment online at Orthopaedic Care Specialists today.
