No one has to tell you that your aging body leads to aches and pains. Specifically, your joints suffer a lot of wear and tear over the span of your life and can result in severe pain and loss of mobility. But you don't have to live in constant discomfort. Regenerative medicine is a minimally invasive treatment that can have your joints feeling brand new again.
At TruWell Health, our amazing team of doctors specialize in regenerative medicine to help your joints heal. Dr. Lora Brown and Dr. Michael MacMillan are ready to help you get moving again and leave joint pain behind for good. With stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, you’ll be on the road to recovery in no time.
PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is a type of regenerative medicine treatment. This type of treatment uses your own blood to help regenerate damaged tissue inside your joint. The plasma has a concentrated amount of platelets, which helps heal your joint without invasive surgical procedures.
Platelet-rich plasma injections can be used for many conditions other than joint pain. Although it’s usually used for chronic conditions, it can also be used after surgery or for acute injuries to promote quicker healing of the damaged tissues. Examples of other conditions PRP may help include:
Platelets help these chronic injuries by using growth hormones to trigger your body’s healing response. These growth hormones work diligently to heal ligaments, tendons, muscle, and even bone in some circumstances. This is why it’s called regenerative medicine, as the platelets stimulate new tissue growth.
Your joints are made of many different types of tissues, including cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and bone. Injuries can occur in any of these, leading to chronic pain. Another common cause of pain in your joints is degenerative arthritis. This causes the cartilage in the affected joint to wear down over time, creating inflammation and discomfort.
Platelet-rich plasma injections decrease joint pain by regenerating tissues, which in turn lessens the inflammatory response. Other ways that PRP helps joint pain include:
How well the PRP works depends on many factors, including how severe your condition is and the condition of your platelets. You may need more than one injection to fully reap the benefits of this therapy.
Once our doctors have determined you’re a good candidate for a PRP injection, the process is pretty simple. We draw a small sample of blood from one of your arms. The vial of blood is then placed in a centrifuge, where it spins at high speed and separates the plasma and the whole blood.
After the blood is separated, we take the plasma out, because it’s rich in platelets. We then inject the plasma into the joint causing you pain using imaging like ultrasound to get the exact location of your pain. You can go home after the injection and return to normal activities almost immediately.
As with any procedure, PRP injections do have risks. You should talk to our doctors about all of the risks and side effects with PRP injections before you have the procedure. Usually, the benefits outweigh the risks if our doctors recommend this type of treatment.
Stop dealing with the pain of arthritis and joint degeneration. When you're ready to explore your options, call our office at 727-361-2162 or book an appointment online today.
