How PRP Therapy Treats Injuries

24 Sep 2019 Health & Wellness

Understanding how PRP therapy treats injuries can help you make an informed decision about whether or not PRP therapy is the best treatment option for you. At Waterfront Health & Wellness, they understand how important it is to treat injuries in the safest, most productive way possible. That is why they offer a range of regenerative services for treating different injuries and ailments.

What is Platelet-Rich Plasma?

Platelet-rich plasma is blood that has been enhanced to contain a higher concentration of platelets (sometimes five to ten times greater) than normal, which also means a higher concentration of growth factors. Platelet-rich plasma is developed by separating platelets from other blood cells and increasing their concentration during a process known as centrifugation. Once this process has been completed, the increased concentration of platelets is then added back into the remaining blood.

How Does PRP Therapy Work?

The increased concentration of platelets and growth factors in PRP can help speed up the healing process by treating the injury site in one of two ways:

1. Carefully injecting PRP into the injured area—A mixture of PRP and local anesthetic can be directly injected into the inflamed tissue, causing the pain to decrease after a couple of weeks.
2. Injecting PRP after surgery—PRP may be able to help improve healing after surgery for some types of injuries, such as a torn tendon. This can be done by preparing the PRP in a special way that allows it to be directly injected into torn tissues.

Is PRP Therapy Effective?

The effectiveness of PRP therapy varies from patient to patient. Some of the different factors that can influence the effectiveness of PRP treatment include the area being treated, the patient’s overall health, and whether the injury is acute or chronic.

Injuries that can be Treated with PRP Therapy

Some of the different injuries that can be treated with PRP therapy are:

Chronic Tendon Injuries

PRP therapy is most effective in treating chronic tendon injuries like tennis elbow and shows promise for treating other chronic tendon injuries, such as Achilles tendonitis or inflammation of the patellar tendon in the knee.

Acute Ligament and Muscle Injuries

PRP therapy can be used to treat acute sport injuries in professional athletes, such as ligament and muscle injuries (including pulled hamstring muscles in the thigh or knee sprains).

Surgery

PRP therapy has been used during certain types of surgery, such as repairing torn knee ligaments or torn rotator cuff tendons, to help improve tissue healing.

If you would like to learn more about how PRP therapy treats injuries, or if you are interested in their PRP treatment options, please contact Waterfront Health & Wellness at 1-360-306-8554. They are a health and wellness clinic that is proud to provide regenerative services to clients throughout Vancouver and the surrounding areas.