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Understanding PRP Therapy

The prevalence of Americans who are living with constant pain is concerning, as more than 20% of adults cope with chronic pain, and 8% struggle with high-impact pain. A large portion of these statistics are due to musculoskeletal problems, such as arthritis or repetitive stress injuries, which are areas where regenerative medicine, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, can make a big difference.

At Valiant Life Medical, our team of integrated medicine specialists believes that the best way to heal the human body is to work with it, rather than against through interventional practices like surgery. And that’s exactly what we accomplish with PRP therapy.

Here’s a look at how PRP therapy works and which conditions benefit from this innovative regenerative practice.

Powerful platelets

Your blood contains four main components:

The platelets in your blood have an extremely important responsibility — clotting. When there’s damage to a blood vessel, the platelets form a barrier to prevent you from bleeding out. 

Once this all-important clotting task is completed, however, their job doesn’t end there. To help form a more sustainable barrier, your platelets release growth factors, which are proteins that aid in tissue healing and repair.

When our medical providers use PRP therapy, we harness the power of your platelets to help speed repairs in damaged tissues. To do this, we draw a sample of your blood and then use a centrifuge to separate out the platelets and plasma from the white and red cells.

We take this concentrate of platelets and mix it back in with a small amount of your plasma, creating a powerful injection of healing resources from your own body.

Putting PRP therapy to use

The orthopedic world was one of the first fields of medicine to embrace the power of platelets, and we’ve been successfully using this protocol to aid in a wide range of musculoskeletal issues, such as:

This last item on the list is one that’s worth underscoring. With osteoarthritis (OA), the cartilage in your joints begins to break down. Unfortunately, there’s no cure for OA because your cartilage doesn’t have an adequate supply of blood to help regenerate itself. Through our PRP therapy, we circumvent this problem by giving the cartilage in your worn-down joint the resources it needs to rebuild and repair itself. 

In addition to helping rebuild the connective tissues in your joints, PRP also helps reduce inflammation, which decreases your discomfort and increases your mobility.

As well, PRP therapy can play a valuable role in accelerating healing after surgery. While our goal is to avoid surgery, there are times when this approach is necessary, such as when you suffer a complete rupture of your tendon. Should you require surgery, we can follow up with PRP therapy to help the damaged tissues recover more quickly.

If you’d like to explore whether our PRP therapy can benefit you, please contact our office in Fort Worth, Texas, to set up a consultation. Or you can use the online booking tool to make an appointment right now.

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