What is PRP?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is an excellent regenerative medicine treatment designed to boost your body’s natural healing process.
In your blood, you have a liquid called plasma along with small solid components — white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.
As well as playing a role in blood clotting, the platelets contain special growth factors that are beneficial for cell regeneration and repair. Growth factors can also improve your recovery, reduce inflammation, act as signals to assist your body’s immune system, and help relieve your pain.
Platelets also have cytokines that are primarily responsible for almost every repair process in your body. Cytokines can even attract stem cells that attach to your injured tissue to assist blood coagulation.
Platelet-rich plasma
Platelet-rich plasma is plasma that has more platelets than normal. Dr. Chao obtains the PRP in a centrifuge machine through a process that concentrates the growth factors so they’re five to 10 times richer than they typically are in your blood.
What does PRP treat?
The OasisMD team might provide PRP to treat:
- Swollen or sprained joints and joint pain
- Injuries — such as ligament, muscle, and tendon injuries from sports, work, automobile accidents, or other causes
- Arthritis
- Rotator cuff injury
- Cartilage damage
- Nerve injuries and nerve damage
- Tendonitis
PRP is even used during some surgeries to assist with tissue healing. PRP therapy is often a complement to several treatment methods.
How does PRP work?
The PRP process varies slightly depending on what’s being treated. Dr. Chao might use a mild anesthetic to numb your skin before he draws your blood from a vein in your arm.
Dr. Chao separates and concentrates your platelets with centrifugal force using the special in-office machine. Following the centrifugation process, Dr. Chao mixes the concentrated platelets with the remaining blood.
He carefully injects these concentrated platelets back into the injured or target area. After your PRP treatment, there’s no downtime and you can get right back to your day.
Why should I choose PRP?
PRP therapy offers myriad benefits, such as:
- Usually a more affordable option
- Convenient in-office lunchtime procedure typically completed in 30 minutes or less
- Doesn’t involve invasive surgery or medications with unwanted side effects and risks
- Long-lasting results for several months
- Your body doesn’t reject your own blood, so it’s both safe and effective
You might need multiple treatments to obtain the best outcome.
PRP is also popular among athletes and celebrities. Dr. Chao is trusted by high profile professional athletes from the NBA, NFL, and MLB.
To find effective, affordable, and convenient relief from your joint pain, call OasisMD or schedule through the online system.
