Joint pain is caused by a number of different conditions, and one of the most common problems is a condition called osteoarthritis. This condition is very tricky to treat and leads to chronic pain and even disability. Many treatments offer temporary relief, but only one works to heal the damage in your joint — platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
At TruWell Health, our main goal is to provide pain relief so you are able to return to your favorite activities. Our team consists of Dr. Lora Brown and Dr. Michael MacMillan, both of whom specialize in treatments for the many causes of joint pain. PRP is one of the treatments we offer to ease your pain for good.
Joint pain is a very common ailment and may involve one or more of the joints in your body. You might notice that you’re waking up stiff in the morning, or your joints remain inflamed throughout the day. The pain could range from mild to severe, and at its worst, could interfere with your daily activities.
So what’s causing the pain and stiffness in your joints? The most common cause of joint problems is arthritis. Although there are many different types of arthritis, the two most common are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a disorder that causes the breakdown of the protective cartilage that covers the ends of the bone in your joint. This is usually due to wear and tear on your joint over time. Once the cartilage is gone, it causes pain and inflammation in the joint space.
Rheumatoid arthritis happens because of an exaggerated immune response that attacks the lining in your joints. It leads to fluid buildup, along with inflammation and pain within your joints, and can lead to joint deformity over time. Although these are the most common causes for joint pain, there are others that include:
No matter what the cause of your joint pain, you should seek treatment when the pain starts interfering with your activities or doesn’t go away after conservative treatment like ice and rest.
Joint pain can be tricky to treat, especially when it’s caused by arthritis. Many conservative treatments offer some relief, but sometimes the pain comes back or isn’t completely taken care of. At TruWell Health, we offer a different type of treatment called platelet-rich plasma injections.
PRP is a type of regenerative medicine that uses your own blood to help heal the damage in your joints that’s causing you pain. Plasma is the liquid component in your blood, which also contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The platelets are important for clotting, but also contain important growth factors.
To use PRP, our doctors first need to collect blood from you. Once the blood is collected, it’s spun in a centrifuge to separate the plasma and platelets from the rest of the cells. The result is a concentrated amount of platelets in the plasma, that we then inject into the joint where you’re having pain and discomfort.
So how does this injection help you with joint pain? PRP helps to regrow and regenerate damaged tissues within the joint because of the powerful growth factors that are contained in your platelets.
When you get injured, your body signals the platelets to gather at the injury to help clot your blood and stop the bleeding. However, after they stop the bleeding, the growth factors kick in to start repairing the damage at the site of the injury.
This is also true for chronic conditions like osteoarthritis. The PRP is injected into the affected joint, and the growth factors immediately begin to rebuild the damaged cartilage caused by osteoarthritis. However, this treatment isn’t an overnight cure. It may take weeks to months for you to get the full result of the PRP injection.
When you’ve tried everything for your joint pain and still don’t have relief, call our office at 727-361-2162 or book an appointment online today to learn more about our treatment plans.
