How Platelet Therapy Can Relieve Your Pain
For a long time, people have been told that suffering in pain is a normal part of aging. Fortunately, modern medical advancements have taught us that is not the case. Scientists have developed pharmaceuticals to treat chronic degenerative conditions, and surgery was always an option, but both of those choices come with their own set of woes. There’s another option – platelet therapy.
Platelet therapy utilizes the patient’s own blood in order to boost the regenerative properties within a targeted area. The uses for this advanced medical treatment are still being studied, but there are already many known benefits for painful conditions and injuries.
Osteoarthritis
Platelet therapy is used in osteoarthritis with three goals in mind – to lessen the daily pain of the patient, to improve functionality of the affected joint, and to stop the degeneration of the joint – and maybe even repair some of the damage.
Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Pain/Dysfunction
The SI joint barely moves, but when it’s not working correctly, it can cause some serious back, hip, and pelvic pain. Platelet therapy offers patients suffering from this daily pain another option when traditional physical therapy doesn’t relieve the symptoms, rather than jumping to steroid shots or surgery.
Plantar Fasciitis
Chronic pain is hard to live with no matter the location, but when feet, the very things that make us ambulatory, cause tremendous pain, it can completely immobilize us. This frustrating condition can be hard to treat in some patients, which is why platelet therapy is a promising option that can help sufferers find relief.
Tennis Elbow
Tendon injuries can lead to frustration on the part of the patient, due to the slow process of healing. Often, these conditions can lead to chronic pain, and treatment comes in the form of a corticosteroid shot, followed up by surgery if that doesn’t work – however, platelet therapy is leading the way towards effective, non-surgical treatment for these stubborn injuries.
Back and Neck Pain or Injuries
The core of the body plays an important role in mobility and flexibility, and anyone who has experienced debilitating back or neck pain knows the helpless feeling of being unable to move. When these conditions are chronic, it can be seriously detrimental to the patient’s life. Luckily, medical advancements, like platelet therapy, have given many sufferers their lives back.
ACL Injuries
For many years, athletes have been leading the way towards the regular use of platelet therapy to treat injuries like those to the ACL. These tears often happen to very active individuals who can’t wait to partake in running, jumping, and a range of other physical activities again. Platelet therapy has been used by many in order to boost healing power in combination with surgical methods. The results from many studies around this practice are promising, with many seeing the patient back to pre-injury performance levels within months after the treatment.
Platelet therapy already has so many uses that have changed treatment protocols for painful conditions. With more research, it will help many more overcome and heal from debilitating conditions that were once thought to be permanent.
References
Álvarez, P., Ares, O., Cugat, R., Cuscó, X., Seijas, R., Steinbacher, G. Partial anterior cruciate ligament tears treated with intraligamentary plasma rich growth factors [World Wide Web site]. World Journal of Orthopedics. July 18, 2014 [cited April 21, 2017]. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4095032/.
Chahal, J., Gandhi, R., Khoshbin, A., Leroux, T., Lum, G., Marks, P., Ogilvie-Harris, D., Takhar, K., Theodoropoulos, J., Wasserstein, D. The efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review with quantitative synthesis. US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. December 29, 2013 [cited April 21, 2017]. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24286802.
DeNoon, D.J. Platelet-Rich Plasma Helps Tennis Elbow [World Wide Web site]. WebMD. March 10, 2010 [cited April 21, 2017]. Available at http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100310/platelet-rich-plasma-helps-tennis-elbow#1.
Pollack, P. PRP Is a Useful Option for Chronic Plantar Fasciitis [World Wide Web site]. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. February 8, 2012 [cited April 21, 2017]. Available at http://www.aaos.org/News/The_Daily_Edition_of_AAOS_Now/2012/Wednesday,_February_8/AAOS15_2_8/?ssopc=1.