PRP Regenerative Medicine
Medical field advancements are being made every day, and with that comes the expansion of regenerative medicine. Our bodies have amazing capabilities to heal themselves, but sometimes they could use a nudge in the right direction. Here at Allure Wellness, Dr. Terry, M.D., has expanded her medical practices to include the power of platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Our goal is to restore youthful faces and bodies through PRP regenerative medicine to complement each patient’s journey to overall health and wellness.
What Is PRP Regenerative Medicine?
PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is the part of a person’s blood that contains platelets, growth factors, and cytokines. PRP can be used as a treatment to help the body heal itself and regenerate damaged tissues.
How Does PRP Regenerative Medicine Work?
Platelets contain natural growth factors that encourage our bodies to heal. PRP regenerative medicine harnesses those growth factors to apply them directly to damaged tissues or injury sites. Injections of PRP cause an influx of growth factors which then activate the body’s repair cells and help them multiply for quicker healing.
Platelets are responsible for helping blood clot and providing components for healing. By collecting plasma with concentrated platelets, they can then re-inject it directly to a site in need of repair. Tissue growth factors are richer in this concentration, so the body can heal faster than it would naturally.
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What Conditions Can Be Treated With PRP Regenerative Medicine?
PRP can be a useful treatment for many areas needing healing and restoration. If you are experiencing hair loss, PRP can be applied directly to the scalp to help restore hair growth and impede further hair loss. Platelet-rich plasma has anti-aging properties that are beneficial with facial treatments such as microneedling. Many athletes across all levels of competition use PRP injections to treat sports-related injuries—from minor injuries like pulled muscles to more serious ones like tendonitis. PRP injections can also treat conditions like osteoarthritis. The application of PRP has also been linked to efficacy in both men’s and women’s reproductive and sexual health.
What Are the Benefits?
PRP regenerative medicine is an option for those hoping to avoid or postpone surgery or other invasive procedures. There are several benefits of this treatment as it emerges as a safe, effective, and minimally invasive alternative.
Shorter Recovery Time
As opposed to traditional surgical procedures, PRP injections can help heal injuries with significantly less downtime.
Long-Term Relief
Relief from pain and ongoing symptoms can often last for months, resulting in less of a need for medications or other treatments.
Less Pain
PRP injections help alleviate pain and inflammation from chronic conditions like tennis elbow or musculoskeletal injuries.
Treatment Customization
PRP injections have a wide array of effective applications, allowing you and your provider to develop a treatment plan to best address your needs.
Decreased Risks
Because PRP comes directly from the patient, there are far fewer risks or complications than with other treatment methods for similar conditions.
Works Alongside Treatments
If you are already receiving physical therapy or have surgery scheduled to repair an injury, PRP injections can be used in addition to those treatments for an even greater outcome.
Regenerative medicine has made strides over the past several years and PRP treatments are a safe, effective way to alleviate pain and inflammation from several conditions. This non-surgical solution to managing pain and healing the body is an incredible option for those on a tight timeframe or budget.
Real Results
Receiving PRP Regenerative Medicine at Allure Wellness
Collection
Platelet-rich plasma is collected by drawing blood from the patient. Plasma is the part of the blood that contains special proteins that signal cells to grow and multiply, as well as reduce inflammation. However, plasma is not naturally rich in platelets so it needs to be centrifuged to be concentrated.
Centrifuging
The collected vials of blood are placed into a centrifuge. This special tool spins the vials at a very high speed, forcing the components of the blood to separate. This typically takes 15 minutes. The plasma and platelets are then collected from the vials and combined to form “platelet-rich plasma.” The platelets have increased in their concentration by about 2-8 times their normal amount.
Application
The physician puts the PRP into a syringe or syringes, combined with a local anesthetic, for injection into the damaged sites. Occasionally, an ultrasound may be used to help pinpoint the best areas for injection. If the treatment is to combat excessive hair loss, or a treatment area has extensive tissue damage, a tissue allograft may be considered alongside the PRP treatment.
Healing
Depending on the treated areas, downtime varies from a few days of soreness to a couple of weeks of gradual improvement. It is important to follow your doctor’s guidance for any aftercare or specific recovery instructions. Certain pain medications sometimes need to be avoided, but others are safe for use, along with ice to relieve any pain. Most soreness and inflammation resolve within 48 hours, but the pain from more chronic conditions will continue to gradually lessen over a couple of weeks.
Results
Some less serious conditions, or treatments combined with PRP, show results from this type of regenerative medicine within a couple of days. However, more chronic conditions like arthritis may take up to several weeks to notice significant results in the decrease of pain and inflammation. For PRP treatments to the scalp for hair loss, optimal results are seen after about six months. Some conditions may require more than one set of injections and your doctor will help direct that decision.
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Frequently Asked Questions
PRP injections are fairly painless and can be compared to receiving a shot. The pain that is experienced will depend on the chosen area for injection, as some areas are more sensitive than others. Topical numbing creams and local anesthetics may be used based on the patient’s choice at the provider’s discretion.
Depending on the condition being treated with PRP, you may only need one round of injections. However, more in-depth or long-standing conditions may require additional injections—typically spaced out every four to six weeks.
PRP injections can be helpful both before and after several surgeries to improve the outcome of the procedure. Many orthopedic surgeons suggest PRP therapy alongside surgery to help reduce recovery time and side effects following the surgery. These injections can speed up the healing process and help lower your risk of complications.
Even though PRP has not yet been FDA-approved, the tools to research and use it in practice have been. This leaves the discretion of its use up to the doctor. PRP is relatively safe as it is derived from the patient, meaning there is very limited risk for rejection or negative reactions to occur. Risks of infection are possible if not carried out by a medical professional in a sterile environment.
Experience the Allure Wellness Difference
Dr. Terry’s approach to helping your body look and feel its best comes full circle with the role of platelet-rich plasma in regenerative medicine. Whether you’re experiencing pain from a chronic injury, signs of aging such as hair loss, or a decline in your sexual health, she and her team of physicians at Allure Wellness are equipped with the PRP application knowledge to meet your needs. If you feel like you’ve been missing the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to feeling wholly well and renewed, our caring team is here to collaborate with you in finding your path to wellness.
