Despite every advance in medical science, there’s still no more effective healer than your own body. Even when doctors perform life-saving surgery, they count on the ability of the body to finish the job, repairing cut tissue and sealing over incisions.
One small part of the self-healing abilities you possess exists in your blood. Platelets start the process of forming blood clots to rejoin and repair skin. That’s simply one of their tasks, however.
Harvesting platelets to create a serum called platelet-rich plasma (PRP) gives medical practitioners a natural way to boost your body’s ability to heal itself. Since PRP uses your own blood without additional medication, it’s becoming a popular way to supplement other therapies.
Dr. James Nassiri and the team at Westside Pain Specialists offer PRP therapy for a wide range of conditions and treatments. Since platelets are integral in virtually every healing process in the body, PRP is an effective and versatile option that’s free of serious complications, side effects, or harmful interactions.
This powerful healing booster starts with a simple extraction of blood, about the same amount as that drawn for routine blood tests. Separating blood components in a centrifuge separates red and white blood cells and platelets from plasma.
It’s easy, then, to extract the platelet layer and mix it with some plasma, creating an injectable serum that’s supercharged with the healing power of platelets. We then inject PRP at the healing sites where you need it the most.
Though clotting is an important role for platelets, it’s not primarily what we look for when we use PRP to help you heal. Instead, it’s a series of proteins within platelets called growth factor hormones that aid your body as it repairs itself.
Hormones are the chemical messengers that help to guide body functions. In the case of growth factor hormones, we look for these to aid the functions of healing. Growth factor hormones help drive the conversion of stem cells into cells of the specific types needed for repairs.
An obvious question might be why, if the body delivers platelets through normal blood flow, would we need to add more? It comes down to delivery amounts.
Since platelets are one of the raw materials of healing, it follows that repairs can only happen when there’s an adequate supply of raw materials, in much the same way as building a new house requires a certain amount of lumber and other construction supplies.
Increasing the amount of platelets through PRP at the location of healing speeds the repair process, reduces inflammation and, in the case of injuries with pain, can lower your pain levels without the need for medication.
PRP injections are gaining popularity because they’re a versatile and drug-free way to help your body heal. We use PRP for chronic injuries, often to soft tissue like muscles and tendons.
Other practitioners treat conditions like aging skin and hair loss with PRP injections, illustrating just how wide the applications of this exciting therapy can be.
Find out more about how PRP may help you live a more comfortable, pain-free life by calling the nearest office of Westside Pain Specialists in Beverly Hills or Rancho Cucamonga, California. Book your consultation today.
We offer treatment for neck pain, back pain, sports injuries, along with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Call us to book your appointment today.
