Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is showing great promise as a natural approach to relief from joint and back pain, and in helping spine surgery patients recover faster. The therapy is one of several regenerative medicine approaches offered by The Spine Institute Northwest.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy – What You Need to Know
In PRP, your doctor draws a few ounces of your own blood, spins that blood in a centrifuge to separate the platelets, and then introduces the resulting platelet-rich solution into the site that requires healing.
Unlike other parts of the body, the spine and its parts do not get as much blood flow. So bathing the site of a tear with concentrated platelet plasma onto the site of the injury delivers the platelets directly to the area where their growth factors can best begin the healing. They clot together at the scene of injury and summon stem cells to come create new tissue.
Platelets – More Than Just Clotters
Famously known as your clotting factor, platelets are a natural constituent of your blood, when you suffer a cut or abrasion, it is the platelets that come to the rescue to stop the flow of blood by sealing the cut. But that’s not all. They carry hundreds of growth factors that assist in a variety of repair functions in the human body.
“By creating a concentrated soup of platelet-rich plasma, we’re just focusing your body’s innate ability to heal itself at the precise site where you really need to heal,” said Dr. Solomon Kamson, founder of The Spine Institute Northwest.
Kamson recommends that patients take it easy for the next two to three days.
Maximum improvement is seen around 6 to 12 weeks. At which point, if needed for better results, another treatment can be given. However, the majority of patients improve after just one treatment.
Platelet-rich Plasma therapy also carries the added benefit of being safe and readily available since the platelets come from the patient’s own blood.
PRP – Safe, simple and effective.
To learn more about Platelet-rich Plasma therapy and other regenerative medicine approaches at The Spine Institute Northwest, visit https://www.fixmypain.ca/treatments/regenerative-therapies/ or call (888) 712-0318.