Platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP) has reached headlines because of its use with famous and professional athletes including Stephen Curry, Isaiah Thomas, and Koji Uehara. 

But PRP therapy isn’t only for professional athletes. It can offer a wide range of benefits to people with various injuries and disorders.

Let’s delve a bit deeper on what PRP injection therapy is and the benefits of this type of treatment.

What Is Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy?

Platelets are a component of our blood. Platelets contain all of the compounds and molecules necessary to promote clotting when we have a cut. These compounds are also responsible for inducing the healing process when we’re injured or wounded.

Platelet rich plasma therapy (often abbreviated as PRP therapy or PRP injection therapy) takes a patient’s own blood and separates out the platelets. This creates a highly concentrated solution of platelets and their healing compounds.

This is then injected back into the patient in the injured and/or problem area in order to put those healing compounds right where they’re needed.

Benefits of PRP Therapy

As you can imagine, injecting highly concentrated healing compounds directly into an area of injury has numerous benefits. Let’s look at a few.

1. Speed Up The Healing Process

PRP injections at an area of injury or issue can speed up the healing process of tissues, ligaments, and muscles. These can usually take a long time to heal; PRP injections can speed up that process.

It’s particularly effective for chronic or long-term injuries, as oftentimes the body doesn’t recognize it as an injury anymore and stops sending the healing compounds to the area.

2. Pain and Chronic Pain Reduction

Going off of the last section, speeding up the healing process can also lead to pain and chronic pain reduction. PRP injections can reduce pain in chronic and other types of injuries as well as help with chronic pain disorders like TMJ, arthritis, back problems, tennis elbow, runner’s knee, and more.

3. Reduces Inflammation

At its root, inflammation is simply the swelling that occurs when our blood cells and the immune system responds to something wrong in the body like disease, injury, and infection.

The downside is that inflammation can also lead to pain. Abnormal inflammation can also lead to health problems like arthritis, chronic pain, autoimmune disorders, tendonitis, and more.

PRP injections in the area with painful and/or abnormal inflammation can reduce that inflammation, which will reduce pain, stiffness, and swelling.

4. No Outside Drugs or Compounds

Perhaps the most important benefit of PRP therapy is that it can do all of these things without drugs. Pain is often treated with addictive, and often dangerous, drugs like opiates. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 29% of people who receive an opiate prescription for their pain struggle with addiction to or misuse of that medication.

PRP uses your own natural blood compounds in order to treat your pain and/or condition, so you don’t have to worry about scary or dangerous drugs in your system.

Considering PRP Therapy for Your Injury or Pain?

The benefits of platelet rich plasma therapy are promising, and they can benefit you. If you want more information or want to set up a consultation, don’t hesitate to contact AZ-TMJ today.

You don’t have to live with chronic joint or muscle pain. The Head Pain Institute^® provides PRP therapy and other treatments that relieve pain and heal injuries. Call us today to schedule a consultation at 480-945-3629!