PRP Joint Injections

Procedure:

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) joint injections are a minimally invasive procedure designed to alleviate pain and promote healing in injured joints. The process begins with the collection of a small sample of the patient's blood. This blood sample is then placed in a centrifuge machine, which spins at high speeds to separate the platelets, growth factors, and other healing elements from the rest of the blood components. The resulting concentration of platelets is then extracted to create the PRP solution.

During the injection procedure, the PRP solution is directly adminstered into the affected joint under the guidance of medical imaging techniques such as ultrasound. The injection is carefully targeted to deliver the concentrated platelets precisely to the injured area, where they work to reduce inflammation, accelerate tissue repair, and stimulate the body's natural healing process.

Benefits:

One of the primary benefits of PRP joint injections is the potential for long-lasting pain relief without the need for surgery or prolonged medication use. By harnessing the body's natural healing mechanisms, PRP injections offer a safe and effective alternative for patients suffering from joint pain due to conditions such as osteoarthritis, tendinitis, or sports injuries. Additionally, PRP injections have shown promising results in improving joint function, promoting tissue regeneration, and reducing the risk of further degeneration.

Overall, PRP joint injections are increasingly recognized as a valuable treatment option for patients seeking non-surgical solutions to joint pain and dysfunction.

Please contact us if you would like to determine if PRP joint injections are suitable for your specific condition and to discuss the potential risks and benefits associated with the treatment.

Platelet Rich Plasma

What is Platelet Rich Plasma?

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is regenerative medicine. It is a sample of blood with a concentration of platelets greater than whole blood. Platelet-rich plasma or PRP comes from whole blood. We obtain blood from a vein in the patient’s arm. The spinning of the blood in a high power centrifuge forms different layers: red cells, white cells, and plasma. The plasma component, which contains high levels of platelets. is separated and injected into joints or tendons. Red and white cells are removed. We remove the red cells as we know that these red cells break down cartilage and stimulate inflammation – an effect we don’t want.

PRP Process

What is the science behind PRP?

Blood is made from red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets. Platelets are sea sponge-like structure and when activated, release healing proteins known as growth factors. Growth factors have a variety of responsibilities, including accelerating the healing of tissue. When the number of platelets in blood is increased near the site of injury, healing occurs more quickly. Essentially, PRP treatment creates “super blood” that is able to repair and regenerate healthy tissue. There is also evidence growth factors can be isolated even more to reduce inflammation at an injury site, so PRP will be even more effective and feature fewer side effects.

Specific injuries and parts of the body that are treated with PRP include:

  • Back and Spine injuries including arthritis, whiplash, ligament sprain, instability

  • Torso injuries including rib problems

  • Shoulder injuries including rotator cuff impingement syndrome, bursitis, tendinitis, or tear bicipital tendinitis, labrum tear, instability, arthritis

  • Knee and Ankle injuries including patellar tendinitis, partially torn and strained major ligaments (ACL, MCL, LCL), instability, meniscus tears, chondromalacia, arthritis, Achilles tendinitis, peroneal tendinitis, and sprains

  • Hip injuries including iliotibial band tendinitis (ITB Syndrome), greater trochanteric bursitis, psoas tendinitis and bursitis, labrum tears, arthritis, sacroiliac joint dysfunction

  • Arm and Hand injuries including tennis elbow*, golfer’s elbow, DeQuervaine’s Tenosynovitis, trigger finger, arthritis, other wrist or finger tendonitis

What to do before PRP injections?

Generally, we suggest PRP works better if you follow the following guidelines:

  • Make sure you come in well hydrated (drink at least a litre of water on the day of the injection)

  • Avoid medications that affect platelet function such as aspirin or ibuprofen

  • Tell your health care provider if you have any conditions that may affect the outcome of PRP such as low platelet count, clotting disorders, or blood disorders.

Will Platelet-rich plasma injections hurt?

Generally no. Sometimes, the healthcare provider will inject a local anesthetic into the skin to stop the PRP injection from hurting. Usually, a few people require pain killers after a PRP injection. Overall, we recommend you take Tylenol or codeine after an injection if needed. Also, we suggest applying ice packs every 4-6 hours particularly after tendon injections.

What are the potential side effects of PRP injections? 

Generally, PRP injections are safe. However, patients can be sore in the joint or tendon for up to a week. Also, the positive effects do not start for at least 2-3 weeks after injection. Overall, the risk of infection is lower than other injections and is around 1 chance in 1500000 injections.

What you can expect PRP results?

Patients undergoing their first PRP treatment typically see improvement within two to six weeks. Symptoms can be slow and subtle and many experience soreness from injections in place of the dull, chronic or injury-related pain they sought to treat. As time passes, patients typically notice there are fewer pain days and more pain-free days. Pain intensity also decreases progressively and patients notice improved strength and endurance. Patients might continue to experience improvement up to six to nine months after an initial treatment. This is to be expected since bone and soft tissue injuries heal in stages.

Does insurance cover PRP

No. Insurance companies considers PRP an experimental treatment and are unwilling to cover it at this time. As more research is done on the procedure, it could eventually be viewed as a mainstream treatment and be covered just as medication or physically therapy is.