Everything You Need to Know About Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections

Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons American adults seek medical treatment. If you’re one of the 50 million men and women in the United States who live with chronic pain, you know the profound impact it can have on your physical health and emotional well-being. Pain often keeps you from participating in daily and leisure activities, restricts your mobility, and contributes to feelings of anxiety and depression. 

Musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis of the knee, shoulder pain, back and neck pain, and elbow pain, to name a few, often respond well to regenerative medicine treatments. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a form of regenerative medicine, is a drug-free way to treat chronic pain. Instead of subscribing to highly addictive opioid medications for pain management, PRP injections are a natural approach to pain relief.

Here at Metro Pain Centers, with multiple offices in New Jersey and New York, our team of pain management physicians recommends platelet-rich plasma injections to men and women who suffer from chronic pain and injuries. PRP injections can help repair damaged tissue, reduce inflammation, and help your body heal.

Wondering if this cutting-edge treatment can help reduce your pain? Here’s everything you need to know about PRP injections. 

Platelet-rich plasma comes from your own blood

Your blood is rich in platelets — tiny components that contain a high concentration of proteins and growth factors. When you cut your finger, platelets aid in the clotting process and help your body repair the wound. When used as regenerative medicine therapy, your own blood platelets may also encourage the growth of new, healthy tissue surrounding a damaged joint, such as an arthritic knee or an injured ankle. 

Platelet-rich plasma injections begin with a blood draw from your arm. Your blood then goes into a high-speed centrifuge where the platelets are separated from the other components in your blood. With this PRP concentrate, your doctor injects the area where your pain originates. 

There’s hardly a chance of rejection from the PRP injection you receive because the platelets come from your own body. Essentially, PRP is a more natural approach to pain relief than many other options, such as prescription pharmaceuticals. 

The power of platelets for healing your body

When a high concentration of blood platelets containing growth factors and proteins is injected directly into the injured or damaged area of your body, the platelets initiate repair and attract stem cells to the area. Your body’s own stem cells — cells that are standing by waiting to become the exact type of cell your body needs — can also help accelerate healing. They become healthy tissue like new cartilage, tendons, or ligaments around your arthritic knee, an injured elbow, or stiff shoulder. 

PRP injections reduce inflammation that leads to stiff, painful joints, too. 

Long-term pain relief

While you won’t get instant or temporary relief from pain immediately after receiving your PRP injections, as your body embarks on its accelerated healing process over the next several weeks or so, you may begin to notice that your joint isn’t as stiff, or you’re regaining mobility. 

You may feel relief after your first PRP injection, or you may need up to three of them for optimal, long-term pain relief. We design a treatment plan that’s best for your condition and type of pain. 

Platelet-rich plasma injections may be beneficial even if you’ve tried other methods of pain relief to no avail. If you’re seeking a more natural approach for long-term pain relief and increased mobility, PRP may be the ideal remedy. 

To learn more about this type of regenerative medicine, call the Metro Pain Centers office nearest you or request to schedule an appointment through our online system.