Joint PRP Beverly Hills

What Is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)?

Plasma is the liquid component of blood – the medium for material travelling in the bloodstream, including red and white blood cells. Composed mainly of water, plasma contains a number of components, including proteins, glucose, nutrients, and antibodies.

Platelets are a normal component of blood. They secrete growth factors (substances required for the stimulation of growth) and other proteins necessary for regulation of cell division, tissue regeneration, and healing. Platelets also help the blood clot.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a refined product of autologous blood (obtained from the same individual) with a concentration of platelets higher than the normal concentration in whole blood. Rich in biologic factors essential to the body’s natural healing response, PRP is an effective treatment for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries and conditions.

How Is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Obtained?

When you come to Full Range Ortho for joint PRP treatment, we will draw a small amount of blood from the large vein in your arm, a similar process to when you have blood drawn for lab work. The blood will be spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets from the other components. The platelet-rich plasma portion is then extracted and used for your joint PRP injections.

How Is PRP Treatment for Joints Performed?

When treating painful, inflamed joints with PRP, Dr. Nini injects PRP directly into the joint to augment or accelerate the healing process.

This safe treatment is performed to:

• Relieve pain
• Improve joint function
• Slow or halt degeneration
• Help repair damaged cartilage

What Does PRP Therapy Do?

Experts are unsure exactly how PRP therapy works to relieve pain and promote healing in musculoskeletal conditions.

Many doctors administering this treatment agree that PRP therapy works through the following processes:

• Reducing inflammation
• Slowing the progress of osteoarthritis
• Stimulating formation of new cartilage
• Increasing natural production of lubricating fluid in the joints, which reduces joint friction
• Altering pain receptors to reduce the sensation of pain

What Joint Conditions Are Treated with PRP in Sports Medicine?

Soft-tissue injuries are responsive to platelet-rich plasma. PRP therapy in Beverly Hills can be used to treat a range of sports and other injuries and conditions of the joints.

Examples include:

• Joint pain and inflammation after acute injury
• Chronic degenerative joint disease
• Tennis elbow
• Golfer’s elbow
• Osteoarthritis of the knee
• Rotator cuff tears

Scientific Studies on PRP Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis

Two recent clinical studies have shown PRP injections to be an effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis and knee pain:

First Study

78 patients with osteoarthritis in both knees received either 1 PRP injection, 2 PRP injections, or a placebo injection of saline. Researchers evaluated all 156 knees at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment. Knees that received 1 or 2 PRP injections showed improvement in knee function and reduction in pain and stiffness at 6 weeks and 3 months, and were still better at 6 months than before the PRP injections.

Second Study

Researchers evaluated patients who had been experiencing knee pain for an average of 14 months, including an MRI to assess joint damage. Each knee received a single injection of PRP and patients were assessed at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and at 1 year with an MRI. At 1 year, researchers found that most patients had less pain than before the PRP injection, and degeneration had not progressed in the majority of treated knees.