Although PRP injections are quite effective, they may not work if you have severe anemia, cancer or a problem with your platelets. Before opting for this treatment, you should discuss your eligibility for this treatment. Either way, doctors will conduct tests to find out if you can use this treatment, or alternatives are ideal in your situation. If your condition is temporary, and you are still interested in PRP, you may ask your doctor of the possibility of doing the PRP treatment procedure injection at a later date.
In the following article on yalemedicene.org, the writer gives an overview of PRP injections and the expected results after this treatment.
The Outcome after Platelet-Rich Plasma Treatment
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a treatment that can stimulate healing and also prevent further damage in degenerative processes such as osteoarthritis. PRP often is referred to as an orthobiologic, since it is made from your own blood, and sometimes as regenerative medicine, since it can help to regenerate tissue. PRP may be a good option if you are struggling with an injury or living with chronic pain in your joints, ligaments, muscles or tendons.
A PRP treatment is a relatively simple process: Using your own blood, taken at the same office visit, the doctor uses a medical centrifuge to isolate a high concentration of platelets. These are blood cells whose main job is helping to form clots, but which also contain growth factors… Read more here
Even though each patient is different, and the injuries may not be the same, many doctors believe that PRP injections promote a longer-lasting recovery when compared to other treatments. The quality of healing is also better. For example, many people with tendon injuries that use PRP therapy have minimal scarring, if any. Progression of the damage is also stopped with PRP. Surgery may not be necessary after this treatment.
In this article by Paul Ingraham, the relationship between stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma treatment is examined.
The Comparison between Stem Cell Therapy and Platelets-Rich Plasma Therapy
Blood therapy, anyone? Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections bathe troubled cells in a concentrated mixture made from your own blood. Hopefully this stimulates healing where it is otherwise failing — especially stubborn, slow-motion injuries like tendinitis1 — but no one really knows for sure yet.
Despite all the not-knowing, it’s easy to pay someone to do this for you these days: extract some of your blood, spin it in a centrifuge to get the platelets, and then pump them back into you. It’s not cheap, but PRP injections have become super popular, particularly with elite athletes… Read more here
Although stem cell therapy and PRP are regenerative therapies, they have seral differences. Stem cell therapy involves the use of generic cells that are not yet in use. In theory, these cells can become whatever they are required to be. PRP injections involve the use of mature, specialized cells. The similarity between these treatments is that they are both biologically intriguing treatments used for cell regeneration.
Here in an article on runnersworld.com, Scott Douglas discusses the value of PRP treatment on knee injuries.
How PRP Therapy Works on Knee Injuries
If you’re suffering from knee tendinitis and your doctor recommends platelet-rich plasma therapy, you might want to seek a second opinion, new research on the topic suggests.
In a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, athletes with patellar tendinopathy who received a single injection of platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) fared no better than athletes with the injury who received a placebo saline solution. Twelve weeks after the injections, those who received PRP had roughly the same level of pain and movement limitation as the saline-shot control group. Patellar tendinopathy is chronic inflammation of the tendon that connects your kneecap (patella) to your tibia, or shin bone. Read more here
PRP injections have been tested on sportspersons who have suffered from extensive knee injuries, especially those that have stubbornly failed to heal. After a few weeks, most of the candidates who went through the test reported a reduction in inflammation and pain. Although the treatment did not show a significant change from other treatments, the result was much faster.
