PRP: Understanding the Healing Power of Your Platelets

In recent years, more and more people have been turning to the power of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy because it’s a revolutionary healing multitasker. This innovative treatment can reduce inflammation from arthritis, heal wounds, and speed up injury recovery time. 

If you’ve been dealing with chronic tissue inflammation, ongoing pain, or a slow-healing injury, PRP therapy could be exactly what you need to address the issue once and for all. 

Our team at Midwest Innovative Pain Management in Dyer, Indiana, offers PRP therapy to encourage your body to heal and restore optimal health and wellness.

In this month’s blog, we explore everything you need to know about the healing power of PRP therapy.

Understanding PRP therapy 

Your blood contains liquid plasma and solid cells — red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Red blood cells transport oxygen, white blood cells fight infections, and platelets clot blood and heal injuries. 

Platelets are the smallest of the blood cells. Despite their small size, platelets contain high amounts of proteins that can regenerate cells and tissues quickly, making them your body’s super healers. 

Any time you’re injured, your body signals a healing response, and platelets hurry to the scene and jump into action.

But sometimes an injury or damaged part of your body doesn’t get sufficient blood flow, and therefore, not enough platelets. Without sufficient amounts of platelets, your body can’t heal properly. And that’s where PRP therapy comes in. 

PRP is a substance created from your own blood that contains a much higher concentration of platelets, three to five times more, in fact. 

It’s made by separating the plasma and platelets from the red blood cells that we obtain from your blood sample. The plasma now contains a high concentration of healing platelets, and we inject it into the injury site to encourage optimal healing. 

Uses for PRP therapy

PRP therapy has a wide range of uses. Since PRP therapy can regenerate cells and tissues and reduce bodily inflammation, it can address common ailments such as:

• Osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and shoulder
• Sports injuries, such as rotator cuff tears
• Overuse injuries, such as tennis elbow 
• Muscle strains
• Chronic neck and back pain
• Chronic tissue inflammation 
• Surgical recovery

If you’re undergoing physical therapy for injury recovery, PRP is a great supplemental treatment for rehabilitation. 

One of the best benefits of PRP is that it’s from your own body and completely natural, meaning that you’re not putting any foreign substances in your body or risking adverse side effects. 

To learn more about the power of PRP, schedule a consultation with our team by calling our office or using our online booking feature today. Maher Fattouh, MD, Anastasia Yorkman, NP, and the rest of our team are happy to help.