You begin with rest and activity changes. Maybe you try over-the-counter medication or physical therapy. If you’re still hurting, you may move on to injections or other treatments. Eventually, you start wondering whether surgery is inevitable.
There may be another option before you get there: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections.
At CurePain in Southern California, David Wu, MD, offers PRP injections for appropriate patients with joint pain, arthritis, sports injuries, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Rather than simply asking whether PRP “works,” however, there’s a more useful question to consider: Where might PRP fit into your treatment journey?
Joint pain treatment isn’t an either-or proposition.
Surgery can provide tremendous benefits when significant joint damage makes it necessary, but not everyone with persistent pain has reached that point. Likewise, conservative treatments such as physical therapy, exercise, activity modification, and medication may help considerably but may not provide enough relief on their own.
PRP may offer another nonsurgical option for certain patients in that space between the two.
The treatment uses a concentrated portion of your own blood. Dr. Wu draws a small blood sample and processes it in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets. He then injects the PRP into the painful or injured tissue. Platelets contain growth factors and proteins involved in your body’s natural healing processes.
CurePain’s broader PRP treatment may be used for musculoskeletal concerns such as osteoarthritis, tendonitis, joint pain, and some ligament or muscle strains. The goal is to support the body’s healing response while reducing discomfort and improving function.
This distinction matters, especially if you’re hoping to avoid surgery.
PRP isn’t a replacement for severely damaged cartilage, nor can it correct every structural problem inside a joint. If advanced damage makes surgery the most appropriate treatment, an injection can’t change that reality.
For carefully selected patients, PRP may reduce symptoms and improve function without immediately progressing to a more invasive treatment. Research has been particularly encouraging for certain tendon problems and mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis, although results vary by condition and individual.
Athletes face a slightly different version of the same dilemma. An injury to a tendon, ligament, muscle, or joint can sideline you even when it doesn’t require an operation. CurePain also offers PRP injections for athletes for sports-related conditions such as tendonitis, tennis or golfer’s elbow, Achilles tendon problems, sprains, strains, and other musculoskeletal injuries.
There’s another piece of the PRP conversation that deserves more attention: The goal isn’t simply to make a joint hurt less. It’s to help you use it better.
Chronic joint pain can create a frustrating cycle. Because movement hurts, you move less. As activity declines, the muscles supporting the joint may weaken, and stiffness can increase, moving even harder.
If PRP reduces discomfort and improves mobility, that progress may make it easier to participate in other parts of your recovery plan, such as appropriate exercise or physical therapy.
In other words, PRP doesn’t necessarily have to do all the work itself. Dr. Wu can consider it one part of a broader strategy to improve function and get you moving again.
PRP isn’t appropriate for every painful joint, and simply wanting to avoid surgery doesn’t automatically make you a good candidate.
Dr. Wu begins by determining what’s actually causing your symptoms. He reviews your medical history, medications, lifestyle, and previous treatments and performs a physical exam. When appropriate, he may also order imaging, blood work, or other diagnostic testing.
That evaluation helps answer an important question: Is there tissue that PRP may reasonably help, or has the joint reached a point where another treatment makes more sense? Here is where our interventional pain-management plan comes in.
Because PRP works with your body’s natural healing processes, improvement may develop gradually. You may experience temporary redness, tenderness, or swelling around the injection site and should take it easy for the rest of the treatment day. Depending on your condition, Dr. Wu may recommend multiple treatments over time.
