Things To Know When Considering Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

12 August 2017
 Categories: Health & Medical , Blog


After you have suffered a serious injury, you will need to understand the full range of treatment options that are available for helping you to heal and recover. Yet, it can be difficult for individuals to know about all of the different treatments that they would need to undergo. This is particularly true for newer treatments, such as platelet rich plasma therapy.

Why Would A Patient Want To Undergo Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy?

During platelet rich plasma therapy, the site of the injury or problem will be treated by injected highly concentrated platelets into the area. This can help to promote healing through a number of different ways, such as increasing oxygen to the damaged tissue and releasing healing factors that can stimulate cell reproduction. For those that are concerned about receiving blood transfusions, it should be noted that these platelets will come from your own blood as you will provide a sample to be concentrated for this injected. However, it can take some time to process this blood sample, which may cause these treatments to be slightly longer than what you would expect for receiving an injection.

What Type Of Pain Is Associated With This Type Of Therapy?

One of the key advantages of undergoing this type of procedure is that it will usually be far less painful than other surgical options. However, patients should still expect to experience some discomfort after this procedure. Often, this will be in the form of soreness, swelling and stiffness. Typically, these symptoms will be fairly mild, which will allow you to manage the discomfort with over-the-counter medications. Depending on your body's ability to heal, these symptoms should fade after only a couple of days, but it may take slightly longer for some patients.

Can Anyone Undergo Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy?

While platelet rich plasma therapy can be an effective treatment that may allow patients to avoid the need to undergo surgery, it is important to realize that there are requirements a patient must meet to be eligible to undergo this procedure. In particular, it will be necessary to ensure the patient does not have any blood conditions or complications that could interfere with this therapy. For example, those that suffer from severe anemia, compromised immune systems and other conditions may not be able to safely undergo this procedure. Prior to starting this therapy, your doctor will need to perform a blood analysis to verify that you are free of these potential problems.


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