Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) & Prolotherapy for Pain

If you are looking for a solution to long-term pain in your joints or instability in your joints that regenerates and builds tissue, with little to no downtime and have not responded to more conservative care prolotherapy and/or PRP is a marvelous option. Persons who suffer from acute or chronic pain which is localized and directly related to that region of the body and otherwise in good health may benefit from Prolo and/or PRP therapy. Prolotherapy and PRP are able to heal tissues with minimal to no scarring as well as alleviate further degeneration of the tissues. An initial evaluation with Dr. Nixon is necessary to determine if prolotherapy or PRP is right for you

Surgery is best considered as a last resort because it is permanent and can never be undone. There is always a greater risk associated with surgery and your entire body must undergo anesthesia, which puts the body under systemic stress. Generally surgery is quite a bit more expensive and requires a lot of down time and rehab post surgery. Complications with surgery may include infections, moderate to significant down time, time and money lost from work, expensive co-pays and/or deductibles as well as permanent alteration of a joint. Prolotherapy and PRP is a safe, elegant and simple in-house procedure that is cost efficient and may very well reverse pain and improve quality of life. This allows the patient and opportunity to avoid surgery completely and get back to their life, family and hobbies without pain. The main goal at Healing Peak Natural Medicine is to get patients back to their peak wellness and out of pain as quickly as possible.

Prolotherapy, also known as regenerative injection therapy, is a natural and effective treatment for chronic pain. By injecting the degenerated/injured ligament or tendon with a natural irritant solution, a mild inflammatory response is triggered to give the body a second chance at healing.

This controlled inflammation cascade generates new, healthy and stronger tissue and has significant impact on chronic, nagging pain. When function and stability is restored, pain tends to also resolve. Prolotherapy also successfully addresses pain created by the nerve.

This is a great treatment if you have an acute injury that is not healing in a timely fashion or long term degenerated joints that ache and feel unstable.

It may take several injections spaced at 2-4 week intervals to achieve an optimal result.

Prolotherapy uses the body’s natural healing ability to relieve chronic pain, strengthen injured tissues and restore function. Healthy patients can see significant improvement in symptoms without the need for dangerous medications or surgery.

Platelet Rich Plasma also known as PRP, is blood plasma with highly concentrated platelets. Platelets are a type of specialized blood cell involved in injury healing. Concentrated platelets in PRP solution contain huge reservoirs of bioactive growth factors that are imperative to initiating and accelerating tissue repair and regeneration. These bioactive growth factors initiate healing in the following tissues bone, tendon, ligament and cartilage. They also promote regeneration and repair, development of new blood vessels, and stimulate the wound healing process. PRP therapy is performed by harvesting these platelet components from the patient’s blood stream and concentrating them. With this type of therapy and technology we have been able to help many patients who have failed conservative as well as surgical therapies.

To prepare PRP, a small amount of blood is taken from the patient and processed in our lab to concentrate out the growth factors as well as small amounts of stem cells. The PRP is then injected into the damaged or painful area where it stimulates and triggers the healing cascade. As a result new collagen begins to develop, which works to stabilize the injured tissues and joints.

Most patients experience significant improvement in symptoms; eliminating the need for more traditional treatments such as medications, cortisone injections or surgery. Most experience a dramatic return of function and range of motion with a significant decrease in overall pain.

The number of treatments needed will vary depending on factors such as the area of the body to be treated and the extent of injury/degeneration. A patients overall health, nutritional status and hormonal status can also affect outcomes. The average number of treatments for PRP is 2-4 with the end-point being patient satisfaction and optimal pain reduction. The average number of treatments for prolotherapy is 3-6.

Before injection procedures are preformed an initial consultation with Dr. Nixon must be completed. Dr. Nixon may ask for blood work or any recent imaging that has been preformed. Based on your specific case and her observation, physical exam and assessment she will recommend the most efficient course of treatment for your individual injury and/or chronic joint condition(s).

PRP therapy usually takes about an hour in the office and is performed on an outpatient basis. Upon arrival the patient’s blood is drawn and processed in our lab. Once processed, the solution will be injected immediately into the injured areas. After the initial treatment it is possible that more than one region can be treated in a visit. This treatment is a simple in-office procedure with little to no downtime. Initially the procedure may cause some localized soreness and discomfort.

Directly following the procedure, patients are able to walk out on their own but it is preferred they have a driver. There is usually a 24-48 hour window of post-injection discomfort. For some this will be mild or not at all, for others it can be significant. Patients may require some mild pain medication. Patients are welcome to move about freely in day-to-day activities immediately following treatment. It is suggested that patients take at least one full week off sport/exercise and can return gently to activity in the second week, paying attention to how the body responds.