What Makes PRP Therapy So Effective for Chronic Pain?

Constant, unrelenting, chronic pain has a ripple effect on your body and on your life. Most patients and their doctors have turned to opioid medications to reduce that pain, but the solution has made the problem worse. 

Since the late 1990s, when pharmaceutical companies assured physicians that opioids were not addictive, more than two million people have become addicted to those painkillers, and nearly 48,000 have died from an opioid overdose. That’s 130 people every day. And the numbers are climbing.

While medication administered and taken responsibly has a place in pain management, Dr. David Wu approaches your pain differently. He prefers interventional methods that incorporate innovative techniques, advanced technology, and nonpharmacological pathways whenever possible. One of the most effective methods is platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. 

How your body fights pain

When you get injured, your body kicks into self-repair mode and immediately sends platelet cells to the area. These platelet cells come loaded with essential healing and growth factors that start to repair damaged tissues, and they also call upon stem cells in your body to finish the healing process and reduce inflammation and pain.

How platelet-rich plasma boosts your body’s pain relief mechanisms

PRP is a relatively new procedure that helps many people overcome their pain by promoting their body’s natural healing processes. It works in much the same way as your body’s own mechanisms by flooding the painful area with those all-important platelets, but it also amps up the process by getting those platelets to scene faster and in larger quantities.

Dr. Wu starts by drawing a small amount of blood from your arm, similar to any normal blood draw you might have during a routine check-up.

He then places your blood in a centrifuge, which is a machine that spins the blood at a high speed and isolates the platelet-rich plasma from the red blood cells and the platelet-poor plasma.

Next, he injects those platelets into your injured area, the source of your chronic pain, and lets them do what comes naturally — neutralize your pain and commence healing.

What kind of pain does PRP relieve?

More and more applications are found as PRP continues to show quick- and long-term pain relief for multiple ailments. The most common conditions include:

• Rotator cuff injuries
• ACL injuries
• Osteoarthritis pain in knees, hips, and shoulders
• Spinal injuries and arthritis
• Neck injuries
• Back injuries
• Tendonitis
• Ankle sprains
• Tennis elbow
• Sprained ligaments
• Degenerative disc disease
• Plantar fasciitis 
• Post-surgery wounds

Let’s talk safety

Perhaps the most important aspect of PRP is its safety. Because it uses your own blood, there is virtually no risk of rejection and little risk of infection. And there is no downtime to contend with. The procedure is minimally invasive, only a blood draw and an injection, so anything you were able to do before your PRP injection, you can do afterwards.

How effective is PRP?

Everyone responds a little differently to PRP. Most find that they notice some pain relief immediately and major relief within a few weeks or months. As your body responds to the therapy and your stem cells kick in to begin their regeneration process, you should start to feel a significant difference in your pain level.

More importantly, the platelet-rich plasma works to heal the underlying condition that’s been causing your chronic pain, so you may be able to finally get back to a pain-free life.

If you have chronic pain that hasn’t responded to traditional methods, PRP may be the answer. Call us today to meet with Dr. Wu, or request an appointment online.