Now, more than ever, technology has allowed us many ways to help patients heal naturally without surgery or narcotics. With Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, we can use the power of your own blood platelets to help you heal faster. Your platelets help clot wounds and injuries so healing can begin. With Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy, we can deliver extra platelets to your injury site so clotting and rebuilding can happen quicker with musculoskeletal injuries.
Injuries Are Common
If you are a person that thrives on exercise, sports, or being active, an injury can be a real bummer. In our treatment center, we see patients with exercise and sport injuries every day. Those injuries commonly require long periods of resting the affected limb, which takes these patients out of the sport or activity they love. Injuries with training, sports, exercise and overuse are incredibly common.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there were 27.6 million people treated for injuries in an ER in the U.S. in the last recorded year (2015). Hospitalizations for injuries numbered 2.8 million. The CDC estimates that so many people suffer injuries from sports, accidents, others, work incidents and more that it costs about $671 billion dollars in medical and work costs each year in the U.S.
The common go-to method for treating injuries is surgery. Athletes receive surgery for torn or injured ligaments, muscles, bones, tendons and more. The goal is to help them to heal faster so they can get back to normal life. However, surgery requires cutting into the skin and muscle tissues, which can damage countless nerves. Sometimes, surgery isn’t even effective, or it takes many months of healing to see success. There are alternative ways to heal from injuries, which is why chiropractic and therapy centers like ours exists. We use alternative and effective methods of healing for our patients that doesn’t requires surgery, such as Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy: What Is It?
Your blood has amazing capabilities for healing the body and for keeping it healthy. It is the carrier of sugars that your body uses to provide energy for the cells. Your blood also carries nutrients from your food to parts of the body that need it for cell repair and health. Your blood isn’t simply made of red and white blood cells. It also contains plasma and platelets.
Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy first got its start in 1987, where it was used as a pain-relieving treatment for patients with musculoskeletal or soft-tissue injuries. This use happened when the role of plasma and platelets were used to boost regeneration in the body. The plasma of your blood takes up 55% of your blood components, and it contains enzymes, antibodies, proteins, water and salt. Plasma is the lighter yellow-colored part of your blood. The platelets in your blood are the components that help a wound to clot so healing can begin. Using a centrifuge, we can separate out the different substances in your blood.
With Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy, we draw a small amount of your own blood and separate the blood substances. Using your own blood eliminates most (if not all) risk of infection or complications with the treatment because it’s your body’s own blood. Platelets help clot wounds and jumpstart healing. The more platelets you have in a concentrated area, the faster your healing can happen.
Because of this concept, we use the higher concentration of your blood platelets and inject them into the area of injury. That area then has many more blood platelets to work with to start repairing tissues and to heal an injury. With an added measure of growth hormones and healing capabilities, athletes and active patients can literally get up and running faster.
What Do We Treat?
Our center sees injuries often. We will have a treatment therapy for every condition, but the treatment will vary based on the injury. However, we often use Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy on patients who have injuries in the shoulder, elbow, back, hip, knee, wrist, hand, ankle and foot such as:
- Rotator cuff tendonitis and partial tears
- Anterior and posterior band of IGHL
- ACJ, SCJ and C-C ligament
- SLAP lesion
- Lateral epicondylitis
- Medial epicondylitis
- Facet joint arthritis
- Sacroiliac joint pain
- Hip girdle muscle pain
- Hamstring tendonitis
- Ligament sprains
- Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex
- Patellar tendonitis
- Meniscus
- Ligament (MCL, LCL, ACL, PCL)
- Cartilage defects
- Osteoarthritis
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Achilles tendonitis
- Ankle sprains
How Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy Help You?
Any of our patients can opt to have Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy if they have an injury, especially one that is slow to heal. Non-invasive treatments are a great way to go for children, the elderly, and those with diabetes (which causes slow wound healing) and chronic conditions. No matter the area of your injury, Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy commonly helps to:
- Reduce inflammation
- Promote soft-tissue healing at a more rapid rate
- Soothe pain, avoiding the need for narcotic pain medications
- Improve osteogenesis problems, if present
- Combat infection
- Prevent or decrease postoperative blood loss
We typically prescribe this treatment for patients with sports and exercise injuries that want to get back in the game quicker. This is especially beneficial when athletes need to train for a specific upcoming event. Patients with musculoskeletal conditions (such as osteoarthritis) can also find relief and healing from their symptoms with our help. Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy is considered a form of regenerative therapy. That means, we want to help your body to regenerate itself by providing you the treatment to boost its healing capabilities. If you are interested in the benefits of Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy, call Spine Correction Center of the Rockies at (970) 658-5115 for your free consultation!
