Whether age or injury has deteriorated your joints, causing pain and limiting mobility, drugs and surgery are no longer your only options for relief.
At ReGen Pain Management in Plano, Texas, board-certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Jonathan Koning offers leading-edge treatments for aching joints, including platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP), which can be a game-changer.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an innovative approach to relieving joint pain and dysfunction. Instead of masking your symptoms with pain relievers, PRP uses the healing factors in your blood to restore the health and function of your tissue.
Your blood contains several components, including plasma and platelets. Plasma is the liquid portion that carries your red and white cells along with myriad other substances, such as nutrients and platelets. Your platelets play a significant role in your health on a cellular level, enabling your blood to clot if you’re hurt and secrete growth factors that control cell division and promote tissue regeneration and healing.
To use PRP in regenerative medicine, Dr. Koning draws your blood and concentrates these healing growth factors to harness their natural ability to repair damage in your body.
Everywhere in your body where two or more bones come together, you have a joint. These areas create flexibility and allow for movement. The connecting surfaces of bones are coated in a tissue called cartilage and are lubricated with synovial fluid, which is the fluid found in the joint space. This provides a smooth surface so your bones can move against each other quickly.
As your body ages, it makes less synovial fluid, and your joints dry out. With less lubrication, your movement becomes restricted, and your joints become stiffer. Unfortunately, when dry bones rub against each other, they worsen the situation by causing your cartilage to wear away, and joint degeneration occurs.
Dr. Koning injects PRP into your problem joints to help regenerate the joint and tissue damage. Once injected, it kickstarts the healing process.
Additional benefits of PRP on aging joints include:
Platelet-rich plasma therapy treats joint and bone conditions and can also help soft tissue problems in your tendons, ligaments, or muscles.
PRP injections are relatively painless and involve a blood draw and injection. After collecting your sample, Dr. Koning and her team concentrate your platelets by spinning the blood in a centrifuge, and PRP is created.
You might have mild swelling or discomfort after injecting your PRP directly into your joint. This is normal, as the growth factors introduced to the area trigger healing. Over the following weeks, you’ll see reduced pain and inflammation as new, healthy tissue develops in the area.
To help you achieve maximum results, Dr. Koning might recommend a series of two to three treatments spaced several weeks apart.
To determine whether platelet-rich plasma therapy can help your aching joints, book a consultation at ReGen Pain Management today. Call the office at (469) 252-4777, or request an appointment online.
